AstraZeneca has resumed its COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial in the UK, NPR reports.
AstraZeneca, which developed its candidate vaccine now dubbed AZD1222 with the University of Oxford, halted its trial following a report that a participant in its trial had possibly developed transverse myelitis. The company announced that an independent committee of experts would be looking into the matter and reviewing safety data.
According to the Guardian, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has now recommended that the trial resume. "In large trials such as this, it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case must be evaluated to ensure careful assessment of safety," Oxford says in a statement to the Guardian.
NPR notes that the trial has not yet started back up in the US, and AstraZeneca tells NPR it is working with health officials around the world including the US Food and Drug Administration to resume testing.