Japan pulls 1.6M COVID vaccine doses over contamination fear as COVID's spread causes heartache, Paralympic anxiety

Tokyo — Japan's Health Ministry has pulled about 1.63 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine out of use after 39 unused vials at eight vaccination sites were discovered to be contaminated with a still-unspecified substance. No safety issues have been reported. All of the suspect vials were manufactured in Spain.

Moderna has been sent primarily to mass-vaccination centers in Japan, such as universities and large companies, and it was unclear how badly the incident might set back Japan's already-delayed inoculation campaign. More than 800 vaccination sites were affected. Touring a vaccination clinic in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Thursday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told Japanese media that he'd ordered health officials to "make safety our top priority" in responding to the tainted vaccine issue. He offered assurances that the incident "would not have a significant impact" on the country's vaccination program, which lags significantly behind those of other major industrialized nations.