Two people died in Japan when the Moderna vaccine was halted due to contamination

According to the country’s health ministry, at least two people died in Japan after receiving Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccination shots, which were among the batches later halted due to contamination reports.

The deceased people, both men in their 30s, died this month within days of getting inoculated with the second doses of Moderna vaccines, news agency Reuters reported quoting the ministry statement.

Each had received a shot from one of the three manufacturing lots of the coronavirus vaccines that were suspended on Thursday. Their deaths are being probed; the Reuters report added. Both had a fever the day after receiving the second dose and died two days following the fever.

This development comes after Japan on Thursday suspended the use of a total of 1.63 million doses of Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccines – over a week after the domestic distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, got reports of contamination in some of the vials.

However, both Takeda and Moderna insisted on carrying out a “formal investigation” to determine the connection. “At this time, we do not have any evidence that these deaths are caused by the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine,” the companies said in a statement on Saturday.

Following the suspension of vaccine doses, both Moderna and Japan said that no efficacy or safety issue had been spotted and that the move was just a precautionary measure.