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Coronavirus | COVID-19 vaccine still possible this year: AstraZeneca

September 10, 2020

Drugs giant AstraZeneca on Thursday said a COVID-19 vaccine could still be available by as early as the end of the year, despite a randomized clinical trial being paused.

�We could still have a vaccine by the end of this year, early next year,� the U.K based company�s Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in comment at a media event.

AstraZeneca announced on Wednesday it had �voluntarily paused� its trial of a drug developed alongside Oxford University after a U.K volunteer developed an unexplained illness.

An independent committee was drafted in to review safety but the company said it was a �routine action� designed to maintain the integrity of the trials.