COVID-19: AstraZeneca vaccine trial on hold over safety issue

The clinical trial of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine which is seen as one of the most promising against Covid-19 that are currently under development has been put on hold.

Reports say the vaccine trial was put on hold following a serious adverse reaction in a volunteer which has subsequently triggered the safety protocol for the large-scale trial.

AstraZeneca has “voluntarily paused” late-stage trials of the highly-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with the University of Oxford after one of the study volunteers developed an unexplained illness, the company said on Wednesday.

“As part of the ongoing randomized, controlled global trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, our standard review process was triggered and we voluntarily paused vaccination to allow review of safety data by an independent committee,” said Michele Meixell, the company’s spokeswoman.

“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.”

AstraZeneca said that in large trials, illnesses would sometimes happen by chance, but the issue had to be reviewed independently.

“We are working to expedite the review of the single event to minimise any potential impact on the trial timeline,” Meixell said.