The adverse reaction experienced by a participant in the Oxford and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine trial may not have been caused by the experimental vaccine itself, it has been claimed.
The trial was paused on September 6 after a participant exhibited an illness thought to be a rare spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis.
An information leaflet for participants has now suggested that the adverse reaction may not have occurred as a result of the jab.
“After independent review, these illnesses were either considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine or there was insufficient evidence to say for certain that the illnesses were or were not related to the vaccine,” the document said.
The vaccine trials have now resumed in Britain, Brazil and South Africa, but have not started up again in the United States.
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca are among the front-runners in the race to provide a jab.
Phase 1 of the Oxford trial showed promising results as scientists discovered their jab triggered a response that may offer a “double defence” against the virus.
AstraZeneca and Oxford University did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
