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Science

Most promising coronavirus vaccine put on hold following participant’s adverse reaction

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University have momentarily halted coronavirus vaccine trials due to an adverse patient reaction.

A few months ago, we reported on a promising coronavirus vaccine that was being developed by the biopharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in conjunction with Oxford University. The vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 has been amongst the world’s front running trials, showing huge promise amidst the nine vaccines that have begun patient trials.

However, the UK-developed vaccine has been abruptly put on hold after a trial patient suffered a “potentially unexplained illness”. The patient’s symptoms have not been fully detailed or disclosed to the public but it has been noted that they are expected to make a full recovery.

Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine

According to the esteemed health and medicine website STAT, a spokesperson for AstraZeneca said that in regards to the halt of the vaccine “a routine action has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials.” The spokesperson described that the company is “working to expedite the review of the single event to minimize any potential impact on the trial timeline.” 

Aside from this latest development, the vaccine is looking particularly promising. In addition to producing antibodies, it has been able to prompt the immune response of T cells and lymphocyte production that develop long-term cellular memory in the body to fight off pathogens – aka ‘Rona.

As reported by the ABC, Australia has already pre-ordered a massive 84 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to be distributed freely amongst the public early next year. “By securing the production and supply agreements, Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a safe and effective vaccine, should it pass late-stage testing,” stated Scott Morrison.