Japan's Okinawa Suspends Moderna Shots After Detecting More Contamination

The lots affected by the contamination spotted in Okinawa on Saturday are different from the 1.63 doses suspended after the two deaths, according to local media reports.

Japan's Okinawa region suspended the use of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday after another contamination was spotted, the local government said. It comes a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches -- though the cause of their death is unknown. The Okinawa prefecture, in southern Japan, said Sunday's vaccination programme was partially postponed. "We are suspending the use of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines as foreign substances were spotted in some of them," it said in a statement.