The Japanese prefecture of Gunma reports that there are contaminants in the Modern COVID-19 vaccine

TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) – A contaminant was found in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in Japan’s Gunma prefecture near Tokyo on Sunday, the latest such case involving the company’s vaccines. American.

A small black substance was found in a Moderna Inc vaccine vial (MRNA.O), causing the prefecture to suspend inoculation with vaccines from the Moderna batch where the vial had come from, a prefecture official said. of Gunma.

The Japanese health ministry said two people died on Saturday after receiving shots from Moderna, which were suspended after the discovery of contaminants.

The government had said no safety or effectiveness issues had been identified and the suspension was a precaution. The causes of death are being investigated. Read more

Last week, Japan stopped using 1.63 million doses of Moderna, shipped to 863 vaccination centers nationwide, after domestic distributor Takeda Pharmaceutical (4502.T) received reports of pollutants in some roads.

Moderna and the Spanish pharmaceutical company Rovi (ROVI.MC), which package Moderna vaccines for markets other than the United States, had said at the time that the contamination could be due to a manufacturing problem on one of Rovi’s production lines.

The vaccine in question in Gunma comes from a different Modern batch from those whose use has already been suspended, Gunma official said.

Vaccines from the same batch have been administered to 4,575 people in Gunma, but the prefecture has had no news of poor health, the official said.

Contaminants were also found in Modern vaccines in southern Okinawa prefecture, Japan.

Kiyoshi Takenaka Reports; Edited by Himani Sarkar

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