The trial was put on hold after a “suspected serious adverse reaction” in one participant
The clinical trials of one of the world’s leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates have been put on hold indefinitely after safety concerns rose.
The test vaccine had been jointly developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and scientists at the University of Oxford, had been seen as a frontrunner for an effective immunisation against the virus. However, as per reports from health news site STAT, Phase 3 of the vaccine’s trial was put on hold after a “suspected serious adverse reaction” in one of the participants.
“This is common,”experts say
While what happened to this individual is unknown, they are expected to recover. But we cannot confirm whether how much it’s going to affect the Oxford vaccine’s development. As per STAT, this suspension won’t just affect AstraZeneca’s vaccine trials, but can affect clinicals trials being conducted by other manufacturers as well.
The company is currently downplaying the fears, and is saying that trial suspension is a standard process, and can happen by a single medical event. In a statement to the media, AstraZeneca said, “This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials.”
The Oxford vaccine was one of just nine such vaccines that had reached Phase 3 of clinical trials – the biggest and final testing phase, that involves over tens of thousands of different people, and takes place before getting the final word of approval by health authorities.
In the U.S, President Trump had been urging to release a vaccine before the elections take place in November, but these nine organizations that are developing the vaccines intend to keep the integrity of scientific process and do everything properly through testing.
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