The new coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is considered to be one of the most promising vaccines. Clinical trials of the vaccine have been suspended after a participant in the neo-crown vaccine trial became ill. However, some scientists have suggested that there may be no link between the vaccine and the participant’s illness.
The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced Wednesday that it was suspending the trial because a participant in the British vaccine trial fell ill, reportedly with spinal cord disease. The participant is expected to recover.
The new coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is considered one of the most promising of the dozens of vaccines available worldwide.
After successful early trials, the vaccine has entered Phase 3 testing in recent weeks, involving 30,000 volunteers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa. Scientists stress that there is no indication yet that the participants’ illnesses are linked to receiving the vaccine.
Dr. Alexander Edwards, an immunologist at the University of Reading, said, “Large numbers of people are being vaccinated. Certainly at a given time, certain participants occasionally develop health problems. I think it’s normal to see these events occur, and the next key thing is to suspend the trial and carry out a more detailed investigation.”
That investigation is ongoing, although it is unclear how long it will take. The U.K. Health Secretary tried to reassure the public.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “While we are obviously all eager for this vaccine to succeed, doing so shows how seriously we take the safety of vaccines.”
This week, nine leading vaccine developers in the U.S. and Europe issued pledges to guarantee their vaccine safety standards. The U.S. government launched Operation Godspeed earlier this year, committing nearly $10 billion to accelerate vaccine development, which is scheduled to be completed next January.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has notified health departments across the country to prepare vaccination programs by October.
Globally, at least seven vaccines are being tested in Phase 3 trials with thousands of participants.
It’s a slow process,” Dr. Edwards said, “because it depends on the number of people who are infected, and they’re in different areas. And in different areas, you know the number of cases in any given week, the number per week is different.”
Even if the vaccine is approved, scientists say it will still take time to roll out the vaccine.
Dr. Edwards said, “We need to make a lot of vaccine, we need to fill it into little glass vials, and then we need to distribute the vaccine, and then after that we need to plan how to actually get the vaccine.”
To date, only one vaccine has been approved and that is the Russian “Sputnik 5” vaccine. The Russian government says it will begin rolling out the vaccine to the Russian population beginning in October. Experts have raised concerns about the safety of this vaccine, as it has not yet entered Phase 3 clinical trials.
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