Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine trials in India to continue despite 'pause' in UK: Serum Institute

Serum Institute, the Pune-based third largestmanufacturer of vaccines in the world has said that it will continue with Covid-19 vaccine trials in India. Serum Institute said that they had not faced any issues. Trials of the same vaccine have be paused in UK after one of the patients developed illness.

"We can't comment much on the UK trials, but they have been paused for further review and they hope to restart soon. As far as Indian trials are concerned, it is continuing & we have faced no issues at all: Serum Institute of India on reports on AstraZeneca halting the trials," Serum Institute was quoted as saying by ANI

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The vaccine, which is known as Covishield in India, is being develped by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical giant, "voluntarily paused" clinical trials of the Coronavirus vaccine after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness. AstraZeneca called it a routine action but this pause in the clinical trials made headlines everywhere. The vaccine, being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is considered to be the frotrunner in the race to develop vaccine against coronavirus.

"As part of the ongoing randomized, controlled global trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, our standard review process was triggered and we voluntarily paused vaccination to allow review of safety data by an independent committee," a spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday.

The company spokesperson also added that in large trials, illnesses will sometimes happen by chance but must be reviewed independently.

AlsoRead: AstraZeneca 'voluntarily pauses' clinical trials for Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine after unexplained illness

"We are working to expedite the review of the single event to minimise any potential impact on the trial timeline," the spokesperson said.

The nature and severity of illness or where the patient was not clear immediately.