[ti:Japan Suspends Use of Some Moderna Vaccine Supply]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]Japanese health officials announced Sunday
[00:03.48]they were suspending the use of another 1 million doses
[00:07.84]of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
[00:11.48]The latest action came as Japan already put on hold 1.63 million doses
[00:19.88]after they were found to contain foreign particles.
[00:25.48]The news comes as the Delta variant of COVID-19
[00:30.68]is infecting more people than ever before.
[00:34.32]In August, Japan recorded over 25,000
[00:39.48]daily COVID-19 cases for the first time.
[00:45.44]The Japanese health ministry said it suspended
[00:48.88]the use of the Moderna vaccine after two men died.
[00:53.00]The men had fevers after getting their second shots
[00:56.76]and died two days later.
[00:58.96]Health officials warned they did not have evidence
[01:03.36]that the vaccine shots caused their deaths.
[01:08.28]The latest reports of particles – thought to be either metal
[01:13.04]or plastic – in the vaccine containers
[01:17.04]came from an area outside of Tokyo and in Okinawa.
[01:22.96]Japan’s health ministry said the foreign particles
[01:27.36]might be pieces of rubber used to cover the small glass bottles
[01:33.16]containing the vaccine.
[01:35.60]If a doctor or nurse did not insert the needle properly,
[01:40.52]they could have broken off small pieces of rubber.
[01:45.72]The health ministry said no safety or efficacy issues
[01:50.80]had been identified with the vaccine.
[01:53.84]It said the suspension was a precaution
[01:57.28]while the causes of death are being investigated.
[02:01.68]"It is unlikely, in my opinion, that contamination
[02:06.36]of foreign substances led directly to sudden deaths,"
[02:11.84]said Takahiro Kinoshita, a doctor with a vaccine information group.
[02:19.52]However, he agreed that more investigation is needed.
[02:25.72]Last week, Japan halted the use
[02:29.48]of 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine.
[02:35.88]Moderna and the Spanish company Rovi,
[02:39.88]which bottles Moderna vaccines for countries
[02:43.68]other than the United States, said at the time
[02:48.60]that a manufacturing issue could have led to the contamination.
[02:54.92]Japanese drug company Takeda said Monday it is working
[03:00.48]to find out what went wrong with Rovi’s production.
[03:04.92]Takeda sent the supplies of Moderna vaccine around the country.
[03:12.04]Throughout Japan, 500,000 people received shots from those supplies.
[03:18.72]Over 4,500 people received doses of vaccine
[03:23.76]from that supply in Gunma, an area close to Tokyo.
[03:28.80]So far, however, no one has reported a problem.
[03:34.36]Nicholas Rennick is an Australian doctor working
[03:37.68]at the NTT Medical Center in Tokyo.
[03:42.36]He said health officials should investigate the problem.
[03:46.40]But Rennick urged Japan to continue vaccinating people because
[03:51.72]“so many of the population remain unvaccinated and unprotected.”
[03:57.40]I’m Dan Friedell.
[03:59.52]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM