Australia ‘not worried’ as AstraZeneca pauses COVID-19 vaccine trial over safety concerns

Australia’s senior health official said that they are not worried about AstraZeneca’s decision to pause its late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial amid rising cases in the country’s coronavirus hotspot. Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth told Sky News that the hold on trials shows safety is the priority for the company and investigators.

“With the information that I have got at the moment, I am not worried about it,” he said.

Australia was expecting to receive its first batch of potential coronavirus vaccine in January after it struck a deal with pharmaceutical companies. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on September 7 that the government signed a $1.7 billion supply and production agreement under which the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca and the University of Queensland/CSL will provide more than 84.8 million vaccine doses.

The government has struck a deal with CSL Ltd to manufacture two potential coronavirus vaccines - one developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca and the other by CSL’s own labs in collaboration with the University of Queensland. The Australian PM said that the country will have free access to more than 84.8 million vaccine doses, with early access to 3.8 million doses of AZD1222, Oxford University/AstraZeneca-developed vaccine candidate, in January and February 2021.

“There are no guarantees that these vaccines will prove successful, however, the agreement puts Australia at the top of the queue, if our medical experts give the vaccines the green light,” added Morrison.

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Pledge by biopharma companies

A day after Morrison’s “no guarantees” disclaimer, AstraZeneca announced a trial pause due to an unexplained illness in a study participant. The nature of the illness has not been detailed by AstraZeneca but the participant is reportedly expected to recover. Coatsworth said that the government has invested in several coronavirus vaccine candidates, “knowing not all of them will get through”.

The decision to put the trial on hold comes after leading biopharma companies signed a pledge to continue to make the safety and well-being of vaccinated individuals the top priority in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccines. The companies include AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna, Inc. among others.

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