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What has happened?
– A person who has participated in a study of a vaccine against covid-19 has suffered a disease. Therefore, the study has been temporarily stopped while an independent group investigates whether the disease may be due to the vaccine. The vaccine is being developed by Astra Zeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford and is one of the vaccines that is at the forefront of development.
What does this mean?
– When large numbers of people participate in a clinical study of a drug or vaccine, someone can get sick. It may be a coincidence, but it may also be due to the medicine or the vaccine. Therefore, it is important to investigate why. It is also standard practice to pause studies if something unexpected happens, and it is also not uncommon.
What does this say about the future of the vaccine?
– It’s too soon to say that. Research can show whether the disease was a side effect of the vaccine or a coincidence. We don’t know how long the phase 3 study will be on hold, which could delay a vaccine.
The whole world is waiting for a vaccine against covid-19. Vaccines are given to large numbers of healthy people to avoid disease, and therefore it is very important that they are very safe. For a vaccine to be approved, it must be tested in several different phases. Phase 3 is the last step before approval, when the vaccine is tested in a large number of people to find out if it really protects against the disease and if it does not cause unusual but serious side effects. Nine vaccines are currently being tested in phase 3.
This shows how important it is that COVID-19 vaccines are also tested for efficacy and safety in large phase 3 studies. We cannot speed up or skip that process, even during a pandemic.
Read more: Astra Zeneca pauses vaccine trial after illness
