'Shouldn't jump to conclusions until completion', Adar Poonawalla says as Oxford resumes COVID vaccine trials
Just as biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford on Saturday announced that clinical trials for their coronavirus vaccine have resumed in the UK, Adar Poonawalla advised all to not jump to conclusions until completion of the process. Poonawalla is the chief executive officer of the vaccine's local manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII).
The human trials resumed after the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority's (MHRA) confirmed that the trials were safe, days after a pause had been announced in the trials after an adverse reaction in one of the participants.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, as the trial sponsor, said that they cannot disclose further medical information but confirmed that independent investigations concluded that the trials were safe to restart. "Clinical trials for the AstraZeneca Oxford coronavirus vaccine, AZD1222, have resumed in the UK following confirmation by the MHRA that it was safe to do so. AstraZeneca is committed to the safety of trial participants and the highest standards of conduct in clinical trials. The company will continue to work with health authorities across the world and be guided as to when other clinical trials can resume to provide the vaccine broadly, equitably and at no profit during this pandemic," the company said in a statement.
