Late-stage studies of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate are on temporary hold while the company investigates whether a recipient’s “potentially unexplained” illness is a side effect of the shot, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard reports.
Late last month, AstraZeneca began recruiting 30,000 people in the U.S. for its largest study of the vaccine. It also is testing the vaccine, developed by Oxford University, in thousands of people in Britain, and in smaller studies in Brazil and South Africa.
Temporary halts in medical studies aren’t uncommon. Two other vaccines are in huge, final-stage tests in the United States. One is made by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.
The development came the same day that AstraZeneca and eight other drugmakers issued an unusual pledge, vowing to uphold the highest ethical and scientific standards in developing their vaccines.
That announcement followed worries that President Trump, in a febrile general election final sprint, will pressure the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve a vaccine before it’s proven to be safe and effective.
Computer glitches disrupt classes as US schools return online
U.S. Schools: The millions of American youngsters who returned to online classes have faced technical glitches and other headaches that have plagued remote learning since the onset of the pandemic.
The problems are testing the patience of students and teachers alike and forcing parents to juggle full-time jobs with side gigs as a teacher’s aide and technical support person, Juan Lozano, Adriana Gomez Licon and Rebecca Boone report.
@ AP
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