A huge study testing out a potential COVID-19 vaccine has been paused due to a serious reaction from a study participant in the UK, which is suspected to be caused by the trialled vaccine.
As per STAT, the team at AstraZeneca (who is in the lead on the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19 in conjunction with the University of Oxford) has put a clinical hold on its vaccination testing to “allow review of safety data”.
The actual adverse reaction the UK-based trial participant has not been fully detailed, nor when the reaction occurred, but it’s reported that they are expected to make a full recovery from the suspected vaccine reaction.
Nine News reports that in a statement from AstraZeneca, the pause is a routine action that has to happen any time there’s an “unexplained illness” in one of the trials. The statement also said that though illness does happen by chance in large trials, it must be investigated independently to preserve the integrity of the study as a whole.
Statement from Astra Zeneca confirming Oxford University Covid vaccine trial has been paused. @9NewsAUS @TheTodayShow pic.twitter.com/zr4sZdliuz
— Jonathan Kearsley (@jekearsley) September 8, 2020
AstraZeneca’s clinical hold has now influenced researchers in competing trials to go through their own research, to locate any potential reactions in their studies, STAT also reported.
In the last week, the Australian Government also sealed a deal for 84.8million doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca, if the vaccine trial proves successful.
More to come.
