Japan suspends 1.63 million doses of Moderna over contamination

Anthony Faulkner receives his booster dose of the Moderna vaccine in Michigan on August 24. Pics/AFP

Japan suspended use of about 1.63 million doses of Moderna vaccine Thursday after contamination was found in unused vials, raising concern of a supply shortage as the country tries to accelerate vaccinations amid a COVID-19 surge.

The health ministry said contamination was reported from multiple vaccination sites. Some doses might have been administered, but no adverse health effects have been reported so far, officials said.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., a Japanese drugmaker in charge of sales and distribution of the vaccine in Japan, said it decided to suspend use of doses manufactured in the same production line as a safety precaution.

It asked Moderna to conduct an emergency investigation and told medical institutions and organizers to stop using the vaccine produced in Spain and shared the production numbers that may be affected.

The health ministry and Takeda did not give details on the type of contamination or if the doses in question may have been distributed outside Japan. The Moderna vaccine problem came just as Japan struggles with surging infections, with daily new cases hitting new highs in many parts of the country and severely straining the health care system.

New study

People infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, are most contagious two days before, and three days after they develop symptoms, according to a study conducted in China. The research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, also found infected individuals were more likely to be asymptomatic if they contracted the virus from a primary case - the first infected person in an outbreak - who was also asymptomatic.

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Delivering another blow to what's left of former Governor Andrew Cuomo's legacy, New York's new governor acknowledged on her first day in office that the state has had nearly 12,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than Cuomo told the public. In its first daily update on the outbreak Tuesday evening, Kathy Hochul's office reported that nearly 55,400 people have died of the coronavirus in New York. That's up from about 43,400 Cuomo reported to the public as of Monday, his last day in office.

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