AstraZeneca pauses clinical trials due to safety issue

 AstraZeneca has voluntarily paused all clinical trials for their COVID-19 vaccine due to a “potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials”. The pause will enable an independent committee to review the safety data and to determine whether a serious adverse event was caused by the vaccine. Spokesperson for the company says that such pauses are uncommon but not unheard of. By putting trials on hold, drug companies can determine whether to resume the trial or alter it. Such precautions are necessary to ensure safety of the trial participants.

AstraZeneca is the third company to begin phase 3 trials in the US. Pfizer and Moderna, the other two companies performing phase 3 trials in the US, have 30,000 enrolled volunteers. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, which uses mRNA to develop their vaccines, the Oxford vaccine utilizes an adenovirus to teach the immune system how to make antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

Editor’s Note: This news comes as no surprise at all as earlier phases of the Oxford trials were already failing, but were never paused [see Expect failure and adverse reactions with coronavirus vaccine and Vaccines: Trojan Horses for Global Sterilization and Surveillance].

We are grateful that AstraZeneca has some integrity to voluntarily pause clinical trials. But it comes as a surprise that other clinical trials, particularly that of the Moderna vaccine, continue to be rolled out, despite its use of the new, untested mRNA technology [we know that the Moderna vaccine is not without adverse reactions, see Covid-19 Vaccine fiasco: Danger ahead and A touted COVID-19 vaccine has already harmed people].

Are COVID-19 human trials still being monitored by assigned government agencies or are they relying on the integrity of drug companies to declare serious adverse reactions? Why then did the FDA not initiate the suspension of trials, and why won’t they offer comments about this development? Remember that in a previous interview, Bill Gates said that the US’ Food and Drug Authority (FDA) will ensure that all COVID-19 vaccines will be safe [see Gates tries to justify side effects of fast tracked vaccines]. The FDA’s non-response is in itself concerning.