19th March 2024
AstraZeneca
Barcelona News Catalonia News Madrid News Main News

Covid-19 vaccine trials from AstraZeneca & Oxford University restart

Latest: Coronavirus in Spain figures (28 Dec)

Oxford University has said that trials of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine that it has been developing with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will now resume, just a few days after being ‘voluntarily paused’ due to an ‘unexpected illness’ of a patient in the U.K.

Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa recently said that the first doses of the vaccine could be available in Spain ‘by the end of this year’, if all things went well.

Spain has agreed with the European Commission to participate in the plan to purchase up to 400m doses for EU countries from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, as soon as the vaccine is confirmed to be safe and effective.

In a statement, Oxford University said that in large trials such as this ‘it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case must be carefully evaluated to ensure careful assessment of safety’.

AstraZeneca
Research at AstraZeneca. (Library image)

Globally, some 18,000 people have received the vaccine as part of the trial.

The university would not disclose information about the patient’s illness for reasons of participant confidentiality but insisted that it is ‘committed to the safety of our participants and the highest standards of conduct in our studies and will continue to monitor safety closely.’

The New York Times had previously reported that a volunteer in the UK trial had been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammatory syndrome that affects the spinal cord and can be caused by viral infections.

The progress of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine called AZD1222 is being watched closely around the world, as it is seen as one of the leading contenders among several being developed globally.

AstraZeneca is one of nine companies that are currently in late-stage Phase 3 trials for their vaccines. In the USA, the company began enrolling 30,000 volunteers across dozens of sites on 31 August.

Click here for all previous reports on: Coronavirus in Spain

Sign up for the FREE Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English

Please support Spain in English with a donation.

Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY

Recent Posts

Prison staff continue protests in Catalonia after colleague killed

News Desk

Spanish police arrest 3 over deaths of 5 migrants forced out of smugglers’ boat

News Desk

Real Madrid asks Spanish prosecutors to investigate more racist chants at Vinícius

News Desk

Controversial Amnesty Law passed in Congress, will now proceed to Senate

News Desk

Catalan president dissolves parliament and calls for early election on 12 May

News Desk

Spanish police dismantle burglary gang that targeted footballers’ homes

News Desk

Leave a Comment