Late-stage studies of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate are on temporary hold while the company investigates whether a patient suffered a serious side-effect or if their illness had nothing to do with the shot.
In a statement issued on Tuesday evening (local time), the company said its “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow a review of safety data”.
AstraZeneca did not reveal any information about the possible side-effect except to call it “a potentially unexplained illness”.
The health news site STAT first reported the pause in testing, saying the possible side-effect occurred in the United Kingdom.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson confirmed the pause in vaccinations covers studies in the United States and other countries.