Japan’s Okinawa prefectural government said it suspended inoculation at a mass Covid-19 vaccination site after another batch of Moderna Inc. jabs was found to be contaminated. The decision on Sunday came after previous contaminated Moderna shots were halted from use, reports Xinhua news agency.
The move came a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received doses from other tainted Moderna batches — though the cause of death is unknown.
Before black and pink substances were found in a vial and three syringes during pre-inoculation inspections, over 1,500 people were waiting to receive shots at the vaccination site in Naha a day earlier.
The prefectural government said that the syringes were filled with vaccines from three different vials, which are also separate from the vial containing the substances, meaning a total of four vials may have been polluted.
These vials belong to the same lot number, 3005293, which is different from three other lot numbers identified by Japan’s health ministry as potentially contaminated doses on August 26.
Approximately 880 people received shots under this lot number at the vaccination site. The local government said that so far it has not received any reports of health issues.
The Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry said on August 27 that foreign substances have been found in 39 unused vials at eight vaccination sites in five prefectures.
On the same day, about 1.63 million doses that came from the same production line of a Spanish factory were suspended to use as a precaution.
The contaminant problem happened amid a spike in Covid-19 infections in Japan, with Okinawa and 20 other prefectures, out of the total 47, under a state of emergency.
The Okinawa government said the mass vaccination site will resume inoculation on Monday with safe jabs.
“We are suspending the use of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines as foreign substances were spotted” in some of them, authorities in Okinawa said in a statement.