The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsJapan's Moderna vaccine contamination woes widen as 1 million more shots suspended
A tiny black substance was found in a Moderna vaccine vial in Gunma. In Okinawa, black substances were spotted in syringes and a vial, and pink material was found in a different syringe.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
M
oderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine contamination woes in Japan have widened with another million doses being temporarily suspended, after foreign substances were found in more batches and two people died following shots from affected lots.
The suspension of Moderna supplies, affecting more than 2.6 million does in total, comes as Japan battles its worst wave of COVID-19 yet, driven by the contagious Delta variant, with new daily infections exceeding 25,000 this month for the first time amid a slow vaccine rollout.
The latest reports of vaccine contamination came from Gunma prefecture near Tokyo and the southern prefecture of Okinawa, prompting the suspension on Sunday of two more lots in addition to the 1.63 million doses already pulled last week.
A tiny black substance was found in a Moderna vaccine vial in Gunma, an official from the prefecture said, while in Okinawa, black substances were spotted in syringes and a vial, and pink material was found in a different syringe.
Japan's health ministry said some of the incidents may have been due needles being incorrectly inserted into vials, breaking off bits of the rubber stopper. Other vials from the lots can continue to be used, the ministry said on Monday.
The contamination cases followed a government report on Saturday that two people died after receiving Moderna shots that were among lots later suspended.
The government had said that no safety or efficacy issues had been identified and that the suspension was a precaution. The causes of death are being investigated.
