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Johnson & Johnson Pauses Late-Stage COVID-19 Vaccine Trial After Volunteer
Becomes Sick

VOA News

   NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY - U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson
   paused its late-stage clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine after a
   participant was diagnosed with an unexplained illness.

   The pause was first reported Monday by the health care news website
   Stat, which obtained a document the company sent to outside
   researchers.

   Johnson & Johnson had just launched its wide scale testing of its
   single-dose experimental vaccine. The trial involves 60,000 volunteers
   across more than 200 locations in the United States and
   internationally, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and South
   Africa.

   The company said in a statement that so-called "adverse events" such as
   illnesses and accidents are an expected part of a clinical study,
   especially with such a large number of participants. It also said the
   hold was a "study pause" and not a "clinical hold" which is imposed by
   a formal health regulatory agency.

   Because it can be administered in a single dose, Johnson & Johnson's
   vaccine has significant advantages over the other three potential
   vaccines, which require two doses. The single-dose vaccine would not
   have to be kept frozen in ultracold temperatures, making it easier to
   utilize in a mass immunization campaign.

   The Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial is the second to be put on hold
   after a volunteer became ill after receiving the vaccine.
   U.S.-baseddrugmakerAstraZeneca halted its late-stage trial of a vaccine
   developed with the University of Oxford early last month after a
   volunteer in Britain was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an
   inflammatory syndrome that affects the spinal cord and is often sparked
   by viral infections.

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