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AstraZeneca resumes trials of coronavirus vaccine in UK

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Sep 12, 2020, 10:21 PM IST
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Image for representation Photograph:(AFP)

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Breaking: AstraZeneca resumes trials of coronavirus vaccine in UK.

Pharma giant AstraZeneca on Saturday said it had resumed a Covid-19 vaccine trial after getting the all-clear from British regulators, following a pause caused by a UK volunteer falling ill.

"Clinical trials for the AstraZeneca Oxford coronavirus vaccine, AZD1222, have resumed in the UK following confirmation by the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA) that it was safe to do so," the company said in a statement.

The vaccine, which is known as Covishield in India, is being develped by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical giant, had "voluntarily paused" clinical trials of the Coronavirus vaccine after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness. AstraZeneca called it a routine action but this pause in the clinical trials made headlines everywhere.

The vaccine, being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is considered to be the frotrunner in the race to develop vaccine against coronavirus. If all goes as per the requirements, teh vaccine may be available to public as early as Janury 2021.

In India, the vaccine will be manufactured by Serum Institute of India, the third largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world.Just after AstraZeneca decided to resume vaccine trails, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute said that it was a good news

"As I’d mentioned earlier, we should not jump to conclusions until the trials are fully concluded. The recent chain of events are a clear example why we should not bias the process and should respect the process till the end. Good news, @UniofOxford" he tweeted.

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After Astrazeneca paused the trails, Serum Institute had said that its trials in India would not stop as they had not encountered any problem. However, Serum Institute paused the trials and Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) served a notice to it.

(With inputs from AFP)