Japanese health minister says Okinawa vaccine contaminants likely came from a needle stick

TOKYO, Aug.31 (Reuters) – Japan’s Health Minister said on Tuesday that there was a high likelihood that foreign bodies found in COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) in southern Okinawa prefecture have been caused by needles stuck in the vials.

Some Moderna fire was temporarily halted in Okinawa on Sunday after foreign material was found in vials and syringes. The health ministry said later needles may have been inserted incorrectly into vials, breaking pieces of the rubber stopper.

“Whatever the reason (for the foreign matter), we heard that there was no safety or other issue,” Health Minister Norihisa Tamura told reporters, adding that he did not It was not uncommon for foreign material to enter a vial with other vaccines.

“We will continue to collect information and report,” he added.

Japan is facing its biggest wave of COVID-19 infections so far during the pandemic, driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

A race to boost inoculations has been hampered by delays in imported vaccines and the discovery of contaminants in some doses of Moderna that resulted in three batches being suspended last week.

Taro Kono, the minister in charge of the vaccination campaign, said on Tuesday he wanted to speed up vaccine shipments to municipalities that had been forced to suspend reservations due to shortages.

The government is considering when and how to administer booster injections that might be needed to maintain immunity to the virus, but is currently focusing on completing the first two injections for the public, Kono told reporters.

(This story has been passed on to correct “where” to “were” in the first paragraph.)

Reporting by Mari Saito and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Richard Pullin

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