Despite the anticipation of a vaccine that will arrive and free people from lockdown, history demonstrates there are no guarantees. The Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate is one of five in clinical trials that use the weakened form of a common type of virus known as adenoviruses. Some experts said the announcement of the pause will be a useful reality check, emphasising that safety is paramount. He added: “These are big studies but it is still difficult to pick up those rare events. Peter Welford at Jefferies said temporary pauses were “standard clinical trial practice”.

Source: The Irish Times September 10, 2020 09:52 UTC