‘Unexplained illness’ sees Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine trial put on hold
Late-stage studies of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate are on temporary hold while the company investigates if a report of a patient with a serious side effect is linked to the shot.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the company said its “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow the review of safety data.”
AstraZeneca didn’t reveal any information about the possible side effect except to call it “a potentially unexplained illness.” The news site STAT first reported the pause in testing, saying the possible side effect occurred in the United Kingdom.
New Zealand microbiologist Dr. Siouxsie Wiles said in July the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine trials was the most promising of any of the other vaccine trials at the time.
“Of all of the ones in trials at the moment, this is probably the one that I’m most excited about,” Wiles said.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson confirmed the pause in vaccinations covers studies in the US and other countries. Late last month, AstraZeneca began recruiting 30,000 people in the US for its largest study of the vaccine. It also is testing the vaccine, developed by Oxford University, in thousands of people in Britain, and in smaller studies in Brazil and South Africa.
Two other vaccines are in huge, final-stage tests in the United States, one made by Moderna Inc. and the other by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. Those two vaccines work differently than AstraZeneca’s, and the studies already have recruited about two-thirds of the needed volunteers.
The development came the same day that AstraZeneca and eight other drugmakers issued an unusual pledge, vowing to uphold the highest ethical and scientific standards in developing their vaccines.
Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine shows promising results in early trials; It is safe and produces antibodies to fight the virus, scientists say.
