moderna vaccine employee japan
An employee (L) of Japan's Suntory Holdings receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine for Covid-19 during the company's workplace vaccination campaign at their Tokyo office on June 21, 2021.
Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP via Getty Images
  • Japan had stopped the use of 1.63 million Moderna doses after possible contamination.
  • The EU said the plant manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccines can resume operations, Reuters reported.
  • "An investigation into the root cause is ongoing," the European Medicines Agency told Reuters.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

The Spain manufacturing plant producing Moderna COVID-19 vaccines can continue its production after Japan suspended the use of about 1.63 million doses due to possible contamination at that site, the drugs regulator for the European Union said Friday, according to Reuters.

Japan stopped the use of 1.63 million Moderna doses in its vaccination drive on Thursday after reports of foreign substances in some unopened vaccine vials.

The possible contamination could have been caused by a manufacturing issue at Moderna's manufacturing site in Madrid operated by Rovi, the company previously said.

"COVID-19 vaccine production in Rovi is able to continue, following a preliminary risk assessment of the information received so far," the European Medicines Agency told Reuters in a statement.

The statement continued, "An investigation into the root cause is ongoing. EMA will be able to provide more information as the investigation progresses."

The possible contamination was found in unopened vials of the vaccine in Japan, and there were no reports of anyone using them.

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