Japanese Officials Calm Fears Over Moderna Vaccine Contamination After 2 Deaths: ‘There Is No Safety’ Issue

Following the temporary suspension of 1.63 million doses of the Moderna (MRNA) shot due to a foreign substance identified in the vials, Japanese officials are saying “there is no safety or other issues” with the vaccine as they look to continue inoculating citizens.

According to Japanese Health Minister Norihisa Tamura, the contamination in the Moderna doses was most likely caused when needles were stuck in the vials, he told reporters on Tuesday, as reported by Reuters.

Tamura continued by saying that the doses halted in Okinawa, Japan, that had foreign matter may have had needles incorrectly inserted into the vials, causing them to break off bits of the rubber stopper.

He maintained it was not uncommon for foreign substances to enter a vial with other vaccines, adding, “Whatever the reason [for the foreign matter] we have heard that there is no safety or other issues,” according to Reuters.

Norihisa added, "We will continue to gather information and report back.”

The news of the all clear on the doses comes after three batches of the Moderna vaccine were halted from use at 863 vaccination sites on Sunday following reports of a foreign substance in the vials.

In Gunma and Okinawa, there were also two reports of people dying after receiving the Moderna COVID vaccine that was a part of the lots that were contaminated and later suspended. Their deaths are being investigated.

“It is unlikely, in my opinion, that contamination of foreign substances led directly to sudden deaths," Takahiro Kinoshita, a physician and vice-chair of Cov-Navi, a vaccine information group, said, according to Reuters.

“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. However, further investigations are definitely needed to evaluate the harm of the particular doses in question,” Kinoshita added.

As many as 500,000 people were inoculated with the contaminated Moderna doses before they were paused for investigation by health officials in Japan, Taro Kono, Japan’s National Public Safety Commission Minister, said, according to Reuters.

Japan has seen a surge in COVID cases caused by the highly infectious Delta variant. The country is grappling with its worst wave of cases of the virus seen since the pandemic began, with an average of over 25,000 new infections reported daily.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Japan has reported over 1.4 million coronavirus cases and over 16,000 COVID-19 deaths. As much as 45% of the country is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to The New York Times vaccination tracker.

As of Tuesday's premarket hours, shares of Moderna were trading at $374.89, up $4.20, or 1.13%.