AFP :
Japan has decided to halt the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine after reports of contamination in several vials, drugmaker Takeda and the health ministry said on Thursday.
Takeda, which is in charge of sales and distribution of the Moderna shot in Japan, said it had “received reports from several vaccination centres that foreign substances have been found inside unopened vials”.
“Upon consultation with the health ministry, we have decided to suspend the use of the vaccine” from three batches from Thursday, it added.
The firm said it had informed Moderna and “requested an urgent investigation”.
In a statement, Moderna said the reported contaminations involved “one product lot distributed in Japan”.
“Moderna believes the manufacturing issue was generated in one of the lines used at its contract manufacturing site in Spain,” it added, saying so far “no safety or efficacy issues have been identified”.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Moderna has put this lot and two adjacent lots on hold,” it said, without specifying the nature of the contamination.
“We have not received reports of health problems stemming from the foreign object,” top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told reporters.
“But we are asking people to consult their physicians if they experience any abnormality.”
