Japan suspends 1.63 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Spain

The Ministry of Health of Japan suspends “as a precautionary measure” the use of 1,630,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19. The pharmaceutical company points out that the problem may have arisen at a production site in Spain.

According to the Ministry, this decision was taken after finding “abnormal substances” in one of the batches received from the Moderna covid vaccine. A spokesperson for the Ministry also confirms that the three batches of COVID-19 vaccines that have been withdrawn have been produced at a production site in Spain.

The 1,630,000 doses removed were produced in the same plant and correspond to lot numbers 3004667, 3004734 and 3004956.

In addition, more than a million and a half doses intended for workers in the subway will no longer be used.

For its part, the Spanish Ministry of Health reports that the only batches of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine manufactured in our country affected by impurities are the three that have been stopped in Japan and have not been distributed in any other country.

They explain that both the Japanese and Spanish authorities are currently assessing the risk of the presence of these particles and, on the basis of these analyses, the necessary measures will be taken.

The pharmaceutical company Rovi, responsible for the production of a large part of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines on the international market, investigates the causes of these quality problems in order to know the origin of the problem, solve it and prevent it from being repeated under the supervision of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Products.