The Gunma prefecture government said on Sunday that foreign substances were discovered in Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine, the latest in a series of contaminants from the company’s product reported in Japan in recent days.
During pre-inoculation inspections, black foreign matter, less than 0.5 millimeters, was detected in a vial with a different batch number than the three batches suspended on Thursday for use and another found on Saturday in Okinawa containing black and pink substances.
About 4,500 people were shot in Gunma over the three-day period until Sunday, but no cases of ill health have been reported, the local government said.
Gunma becomes the seventh prefecture to report the discovery of foreign matter in the Modern vaccine after Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Gifu, Aichi and Okinawa.
All seven are among 21 prefectures, out of a total of 47, currently in a COVID-19 emergency, as Japan struggles to contain an increase in coronavirus infections.
On the same day, the government of Okinawa prefecture said it stopped inoculations at a mass vaccination site in Naha after the discovery of contaminants in one vial and three syringes full of vaccine from three different vials.
These four vials fall under the same batch number, 3005293, which is different from the other three batch numbers identified Thursday by the Japanese health ministry as potentially contaminated doses.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on Sunday that rubber pieces probably fell into the vials when a syringe needle was inserted into the rubber top of the vials. The ministry has found no major problems in vaccine quality, he added.
The ministry said it has consulted with Japanese pharmacist Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which is in charge of selling and distributing the Modern vaccine in the country, and decided that there is no need to stop the use of the batch as there are no problems. important security.
About 880 people were shot in Okinawa under the batch number and the local government has not received any reports of health problems.
The issue of pollutants began on Thursday when the ministry said foreign substances had been confirmed in 39 unused vials at eight vaccination sites in Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Gifu and Aichi.
On the same day, the ministry stopped the use of about 1.63 million doses of the three batches, from a Spanish manufacturer for Moderna, as a precaution.
Moderna launched a probe in all three batches – 3004667, 3004734 and 3004956 – while urging medical institutions and other entities not to administer any vaccine that shows abnormalities, even doses not subject to suspension.
The Okinawa government said it will resume inoculation of people at the site on Monday and Gunma resumed vaccination at the center on Sunday, both through the use of unaffected vaccine.
Related coverage:
Contaminants found in the Modern vaccine that do not belong to suspended batches
2 men die in Japan after receiving dose of Modern vaccines in suspension
Moderna’s contaminated vaccine was only shipped to Japan: Spanish manufacturer
