Covid-19: Japan suspends the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine after the discovery of – franceinfo

Impurities have been reported in some vials. Japan announced Thursday, August 26, the suspension of 1.63 million doses of the vaccine from the American biotech Moderna against Covid-19. The pharmaceutical group Takeda, which imports and distributes Moderna’s vaccine in Japan, has asked Moderna to carry out a “urgent investigation” on the three lots in which “foreign bodies have been discovered” and which were produced in Spain, according to local media.

According to a Takeda statement, “several vaccination centers” have reported the presence of contaminants in vials of Moderna vaccine. According to the public broadcaster NHK, these impurities were found in 39 sealed vials of vaccines at eight different vaccination centers in Japan, including Tokyo.

These vials all came from only one of the three lots withdrawn from distribution in Japan. The use of the other two batches was stopped as a precaution, government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said on Thursday. “For the time being, there is no indication that doses containing these contaminants have been administered” to people, he added during a press briefing.