A man receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Tokyo on June 25. (Photo by Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Pool via Reuters)TOKYO: Moderna 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 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. The contamination cases followed a government report on Saturday that two people died after receiving Moderna shots that were among lots later suspended. Japan earlier halted the use of 1.63 million Moderna doses, shipped to 863 vaccination centres nationwide after the domestic distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical, received reports of contaminants in some vials.

Source: Bangkok Post August 30, 2021 08:48 UTC