AstraZeneca puts its COVID-19 vaccine trial on hold after patient in UK falls ill

UK's AstraZeneca has paused its largest COVID-19 vaccine trial after a patient volunteering for vaccine trial fell ill.  company said it is still trying to investigate wher sudden illness of a candidate in UK is a serious side-effect of vaccine. US health news site STAT first reported pause in testing, saying possible side effect occurred in UK. 

AstraZeneca pauses its COVID-19 vaccine trial

As per statement issued by AstraZeneca on September 8, Tuesday, company anunced that it's standard review process has triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data. However, company has t shared any more information about possible side-effect rar than just calling it 'a potentially unexplained illness'. Right after news of pause in COVID-19 vaccine trial of AstraZeneca came out, its U.S trade shares fell by 6 per cent immediately. spokesperson of AstraZeneca has confirmed pause in COVID-19 vaccination cover studies in U.S and or countries. 

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At same time, UK company is also testing COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University. trials of Oxford's vaccine are being performed on thousands of people in Britain, Brazil and South Africa. Two or vaccines are in huge, final-st tests in United States, one made by Moderna Inc. and or by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. However, se two vaccines work differently as compared to AstraZeneca and have just recruited two-third of needed volunteers. Dr Ashish Jha of Brown University took to Twitter and said that sudden and unclear pause on COVID-19 vaccine trial is very important, and he is very hopeful that an effective vaccine will be released in upcoming months. 

'Temporary holds on vaccine trials are common'

Temporary holds on large studies of vaccine trials are very common. Also, it is mandatory for company to investigate all serious and unexpected reactions of candidate to ensure safe testing trials. Address questions regarding pause on vaccine trials, AstraZeneca said that maybe this illness could be a coincidence as illness of all sorts are possible to arise in such vaccine trial studies. 

“We are working to expedite review of single event to minimize any potential impact on trial timeline,” company statement said.

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When a vaccine is in its third and final st of testing, researchers become more cautious and start to look for possible signs which may have gone undetected in earlier candidate research. As vaccine study of AstraZeneca is very large, proper and detailed study is one of most crucial phases of study because it will help to limit common side effects and establish safety. When dummy shot of vaccine is given to patients during trial, vaccine's effectiveness is also assessed by tracking who gets sick and who doesn't among candidates volunteering for trials. 

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latest development on COVID-19 vaccine trial came out same day when AstraZeneca's along with eight or drugmakers vowed to maintain highest ethical and scientific standards in developing ir vaccines. U.S Food and Drug Administration is worried that President Donald Trump will pressurize authorities to approve a vaccine before it is actually proven safe and effective. U.S has invested billions of dollars in COVID-19 vaccine so that it is quick to develop multiple vaccines against pandemic. However, public fears that if vaccine is unsafe or ineffective, it will result in a disaster over millions of Americans. 

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