The use of 1.63 million COVID-19 vaccine doses has been halted after inoculation sites in Tokyo and four other prefectures detected a foreign substance in vials of Moderna Inc.'s vaccine, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Thursday.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which is in charge of distributing the U.S. biotechnology firm's vaccine in Japan, has asked Moderna to investigate how the vials were contaminated with the foreign material, which is believed to be a metallic substance.
Since Aug. 16, 39 contaminated vials have been found at eight mass inoculation centers and workplace inoculation venues in Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, Aichi and Gifu, according to the ministry.
The contaminated vials, which were produced in a factory in Spain, all had the production number 3004667. The government has instructed vaccination sites to halt the use of all vials produced in the factory, which includes those with production numbers 3004734 and 3004956.
The vials arrived in Japan from late July and were distributed to 863 inoculation venues nationwide.
The ministry does not think doses from contaminated vials have been administered as medical personnel visually check the vials for foreign substances before use.
By the end of September, the government will have received 50 million doses of Moderna vaccine; 18 million doses had been administered as of Tuesday.
Inoculation certificates include the production number of the vaccine. The ministry is calling on vaccine recipients who had health issues after inoculation to contact doctors.
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