The suspension of over two and a half million doses of the Moderna Covid vaccine in Japan following the discovery of contaminants in a number of batches did not come soon enough, with yet another death having been reported after vaccination of a potentially dodgy dose. This time, a man approaching his 50s died just one day after receiving his second dose. The Guardian has the story.
The 49 year-old man had his second shot on August 11th and died the following day. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the Health Ministry said on Monday. As with the previous two deaths, the ministry said it had yet to establish if the latest fatality was linked to the vaccine.
The shot came from one of the three batches that were part of a recall of 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine on August 26th, but not from one of the batches found to have fragments of stainless steel in them. The three batches were manufactured in Spain under contract by Moderna.
The company said: “This is a tragic event, and the loss of life is something that we take very seriously. We offer our sincerest condolences to their loved ones.”
Last week Moderna issued a joint statement with local distributor Takeda Pharmaceutical, saying: “The rare presence of stainless steel particles in the Moderna Covid vaccine does not pose an undue risk to patient safety and it does not adversely affect the benefit/risk profile of the product.”
Early last month, two men in their 30s with no underlying health conditions died within days of getting their second dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Contaminants believed to be pieces of rubber fragments from vial stoppers that entered the vaccine liquid due to incorrectly inserted needles were found in Okinawa, Gunma and Kanagawa in late August and early September. No problems were reported among those injected with the contaminated vaccines, which came from different batches to the previously recalled ones.
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