Moderna announced on Wednesday that the contaminated doses of the COVID-19 vaccine sent to Japan contained particles of rust-resistant metal, but the company did not expect this to pose a "significant risk to patient safety." The American company is facing major setbacks in Japan, with the use of hundreds of thousands of doses on hold following reports of foreign materials found in vials. Authorities are also investigating the deaths of two men who received doses from the contaminated batch, but the cause of their deaths is still unknown.
In a joint statement with Japan's Takeda group, Moderna said that the contamination in one of the three batches of contaminated doses that were put on hold was attributed to defects in the production line at a factory operated by the Spanish contractor "Rovi Pharma Industrial Services." The statement added, "The rare presence of rust-resistant metal particles in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines does not pose a significant risk to patient safety and does not negatively affect the product's benefits/risks." Last week, Japan suspended the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna's product nationwide.
