© Getty ImagesBritish factory making COVID-19 vaccine evacuated over suspicious package
A British pharmaceutical manufacturing company making the COVID-19 vaccine was partially evacuated on Wednesday following the delivery of a "suspicious package," according to the Associated Press.
Wockhardt's UK factory in North Wales, which is responsible for manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca, notified local law enforcement after it received the package on Wednesday morning, the news outlet reported.
"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," the company said in a statement, AP reported.
The reports of the package led to a halt in vaccine production at the factory and a bomb disposal unit was dispatched to the site to deal with the situation, according to BBC.
"Production at the Wockhardt site is currently on hold while the situation is resolved because the safety of our staff is paramount," Wockhardt said in a statement to the news outlet. But we still intend to progress with the previously approved production schedule."
The North Wales police department also responded to the incident by closing down streets in the surrounding area and asking local residents to keep away from the area, AP reported.
Nearly 400 people are employed at the plant though the company did not state how many were evacuated on Wednesday morning, according to the outlet.
The plant is capable of producing about 300 million doses of the vaccine within a year, BBC reported.