(Alliance News) - Scientists are seeking clarity over AstraZeneca PLC's Covid-19 vaccine trial as it remains on hold in the US, while it has been restarted elsewhere, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The Covid-19 vaccine trial was originally halted because a UK participant developed a serious inflammatory condition. In the US it has been on hold for almost two weeks, while trials in other countries including the UK have restarted.
According to the newspaper, neither AstraZeneca nor the US Food & Drug Administration have provided an explanation as to why the trial had not restarted.
"Regulators in each individual country determine when trials can start and they do this in their own timeframe. Companies provide the information to the regulators to enable them to make this determination. On the current US status specifically, we are continuing to work with the FDA to facilitate review of the information and the agency will decide when the US trial can resume," AstraZeneca told the FT.
Ashish Jha, dean of the school of public health at Brown University, told the FT: "Normally, companies wouldn't give out information in the middle of a trial, but this is an exceptional case and we need to have radical transparency. Otherwise, there is a risk the public will lose confidence in the whole process."
The latest poll by Pew Research shows only half of Americans now say they definitely or probably would be vaccinated at this time. That is a 21-point drop from May.
https://www.ft.com/content/06015bd9-ed4b-44ef-a243-2bd67557d2c0
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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