AstraZeneca halts Covid-19 vaccine trials to assess safety issue

Bad news for the European Union and Latin America. The vaccine promoted by the University of Oxford and developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has suspended clinical trials after one of the participants developed a disease that researchers have described as "unexplained", a company spokesperson has informed the US media. This was one of the vaccines that the European Union intended to inoculate the population with when ready. The company planned to have the vaccine available by the first half of 2021 and was considered one of the most advanced in the world by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is the first time that one of these trials to achieve the COVID-19 vaccine has had to be put on hold for safety reasons. 

"This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials," the pharmaceutical spokesperson said in statements to CNBC and Stat. The volunteer who has fallen ill lives in the UK and the disease reported by the trial participant is transverse myelitis, a rare nervous system condition that has yet to be verified as related to the vaccine being administered.  

The vaccine was being tested for efficacy in the United States, Brazil and South Africa after a trial in one of its final phases gave positive results. The governments of Argentina and Mexico, as well as the Mexican foundation Slim, reached an agreement in August with AstraZeneca and Oxford University to manufacture the vaccine in their countries and then distribute it to all other Latin American countries, except Brazil. Alberto Fernández, president of Argentina, stated that the aim was to produce between 150 and 250 million doses accessible at prices ranging from three to four dollars.  

Three weeks ago, the European Commission announced an agreement with AstraZeneca for the purchase of at least 300 million doses of the future vaccine. This purchase, it was said at the time, would be made "once it has been proven to be safe and effective", explained Brussels in a statement. Initially, the purchase of this potential vaccine would amount to 300 million doses, with the option of purchasing a further 100 million on behalf of the Member States.  

The pharmaceutical company's spokesman, quoted by local media, said that  “working to expedite the review of the single event to minimize any potential impact on the trial timeline."Astrazeneca had begun phase three of its US trial at the end of August, according to clinicaltrials.gov, a US government registry; while in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, the vaccine study was between phases two and three, according to Stat. Along with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, AstraZeneca is one of three companies with phase three studies in the United States.