Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine contamination concerns in Japan have gotten worse, with another million doses being temporarily halted after foreign chemicals were discovered in further batches and two people died after receiving shots from contaminated lots.
The suspension of Moderna supplies, which affects over 2.6 million people, comes as Japan confronts its biggest COVID-19 outbreak yet, driven by the infectious Delta strain, with new daily infections reaching 25,000 for the first time this month, despite a delayed vaccine deployment.
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.
“It is unlikely, in my opinion, that contamination of foreign substances led directly to sudden deaths,” said Takahiro Kinoshita, a physician and vice chair of Cov-Navi, a vaccine information group.
“If the contaminated substances were dangerous enough to cause death for some people, probably many more people would have suffered from some symptoms after the vaccination.
