Asian Tech Press (Aug 27) -- The Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, in which foreign substances were found previously, is suspected to be contaminated with metal particles because the substances found in vaccines reacted with a magnet, Japanese public broadcaster reported, citing sources in Japan's health ministry Thursday night.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said Thursday that several vaccination sites in the country reported finding contaminants in unused Moderna vaccines, and the government decided to suspend the use of 1.63 million doses of the vaccine.

On the other hand, Spanish pharmaceutical firm Rovi, which is responsible for bottling Moderna vaccine for markets outside the U.S., responded the same day that no safety or efficacy issues related to Moderna vaccine have been identified so far.

The report said that the 1.63 million doses of the vaccine came from three batches of the same production line of Rovi and were delivered to 863 vaccination sites in Japan.

Rovi said the root cause of the incident may be related to one of the production lines and that the company is continuing its investigation in accordance with standard procedures. As a precautionary measure, shipments of two other batches of vaccine have been suspended.