A plant in Wales that produces AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been partially evacuated after receiving a suspicious package, the company that operates it said on Wednesday.
“Wockhardt UK in Wrexham this morning received a suspicious package to site. All relevant authorities were immediately notified and engaged,” the company said, referring to its facility in Wales.
“Upon expert advice we have partially evacuated the site pending a full investigation. The safety of our employees and business continuity remain of paramount importance.”
Wockhardt UK provides fill-and-finish capacity for AstraZeneca’s U.K. supply chain, which is the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging them.
“We are currently dealing with an ongoing incident on the Wrexham Industrial Estate,” local police said in a statement. Police advised members of the public to avoid the area.
AstraZeneca has agreed to supply Britain with 100 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Oxford University in England.