528: Why Oxford-AstraZeneca Pausing COVID Vaccine Trial is a Good Sign

The COVID vaccine race has faced a hurdle, after a participant in the Oxford-AstraZeneca trials developed neurological symptoms, prompting the company to pause the trials voluntarily. Health care news publication Stat reported that the participant was a woman from the and she did receive the vaccine as opposed to a placebo and that her symptoms were similar to a rare but serious spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis. Now the AstraZeneca-Oxford research has been the frontrunner in the global race for a COVID-19 vaccine as we know, and this hurdle has triggered a global shutdown of the phase 2 and phase 3 trials. As questions are rife on social media over this development, are these snags normal or does this call for a re-assessment of this vaccine race? And secondly, what’s the road ahead on the trial timeline? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Professor Giridhar R. Babu, Head of Lifecourse Epidemiology at the Public Health Foundation of India Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=video_description) Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2oix78C&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=video_description) Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2ntMV7S&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=video_description) Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fspoti.fi%2F2IyLAUQ&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=video_description) Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2Vrf5Ng&redir_token