Is it true that AstraZeneca has faced some major reverses in its COVID-19 vaccine testing? Has the testing been put on hold?

Unfortunately, AstraZeneca had to stop global trials of its experimental Coronavirus vaccine as it had caused unexplained illness in one of the study participants. It may be recollected that the vaccine has been developed in collaboration with Oxford University.

This largely dims the prospects for an early rollout. In this case, AstraZeneca opted to voluntarily stop trials till an independent committee reviewed safety data. The USFDA defines adverse event when evidence suggests a relationship to the drug tested.

The vaccine, AZD1222, is currently in late-stage clinical trials in the US, UK, Brazil and South Africa with trials planned in Japan and Russia across 50,000 participants globally.