The Japanese health ministry said on Saturday that two men had died after each received two shots of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine, local media reported.
According to the ministry, the two men aged 30 and 38 died within days of receiving the second injection on August 22 and 15, respectively, and no foreign matter was found in either of the vials of vaccine used on the two men, the Xinhua news agency reported.
It remains unknown whether there is a causal relationship between the vaccination and their deaths, the ministry said, adding that neither of them had an underlying medical condition or a history of allergic reactions.
Japan’s health ministry said Thursday that foreign substances have been found in 39 unused vials at eight vaccination sites in five prefectures. The same day, about 1.63 million doses that came from the same production line of a Spanish factory were suspended to use as a precaution.
However, more than 500,000 shots have already been administered from the potentially contaminated batches, said Taro Kono, the Japanese minister in charge of the vaccination effort.
Although the foreign substances had been confirmed since August 16, the Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which is in charge of the sale and distribution of the Moderna vaccine in Japan, waited until Wednesday to report the problem to the ministry.
Moderna and Takeda said in a joint statement Saturday that they were working with the health ministry to investigate the two deaths.
The two companies said that at this time, they did not find any evidence that these deaths were caused by the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
–IANS
int/rs
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
Source link