As I see it | Timely data release would boost confidence in China coronavirus research
- Late disclosures and large-scale vaccinations outside formal trials could be counterproductive to Chinese candidates
- Revelation that hundreds of thousands were given emergency inoculation may do more harm than good
Little attention has been paid to such pauses and restarts in past trials but this time the news led to a 13 per cent fall in AstraZeneca stocks and prompted Chinese and Russian vaccine developers using similar technology to issue statements distancing themselves from the collaborative candidate.
After four days, British regulators gave the green light for trials to resume, saying it was expected that some would become unwell in large-scale trials. No information about the patient was disclosed, to preserve confidentiality, but the person reportedly developed symptoms of a rare spinal inflammation.
The prompt resumption suggested the regulators were convinced the condition was not related to the vaccine and that the person had recovered.
Scientists argued the pause showed the team was following safety guidelines, but some said the safety bar would inevitably be raised afterwards and there would be more concerns about the US regulator’s consideration to give emergency use authorisation (EUA) to some candidates before trials were completed.
China did well in publishing data from the first two stages of trials in international journals. But many were shocked to learn last month that hundreds of thousands had been inoculated with experimental vaccines under an EUA granted by Chinese authorities in late July.
A justification for the EUA was that high risk groups could not wait for trials to be completed, but the numbers revealed to have been vaccinated in China has cast doubt on whether they all were necessary.