Massive side efects and adverse reactions have led to the suspension of the Oxford University COVID-19 vaccines trials.
The AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine was tauted as the most effective vaccine to neutralise the deadly Chinese virus.
At one time, WHO—while rebuking the vaccine made by Madagascar government, marked it as a strong contender among dozens being developed around the world.
The drug, according to WHO could have been one of the first to come on the market, following successful phase 1 and 2 testing.
Its move to Phase 3 testing in recent weeks has involved some 30,000 participants in the US as well as in the UK, Brazil and South Africa.
BBC’s Medical Editor Fergus Walsh reported that all international trial sites have now been put on pause while an independent investigation reviews the safety data of the vaccine.
“In large trials, illnesses will happen by chance but must be independently reviewed to check this carefully”, an Oxford University spokesperson said.
This is the second time the Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial has been put on hold.
Stat News, the health website which first broke the story, said details of the UK participant’s adverse reaction were not immediately known, but quoted a source as saying they were expected to recover.
On Tuesday, Industry giants Johnson & Johnson, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Merk, Moderna, Sanofi, Novavax and AstraZeneca signed a historic pledge to uphold scientific and ethical standards in the search for a vaccine.
Thomas Cueni, director-general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers said they do not expect a vaccine to meet its efficacy and safety guidelines in order to be approved this year because of the time it takes to test them safely.
This comes a time that China and Russia already rolled out and begun inoculating some key workers with domestically developed vaccines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last month said his own daughter had already been administered with the vaccine, she, according to Russian media developed mild body temperature fluctuation that were later handled.
What do you think, are we nearing a breakthrough or this has been taken to the next level —Political and Scientific suppression and superiority respectively?
