AstraZeneca Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Trials after Second Volunteer "Develops Neurological problems"

 "They've Killed God; I Can't Feel God; My Soul Is Dead" AstraZeneca Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Trials after Second Volunteer "Develops Neurological problems"

Hal Turner,

16 Setpember, 2020

AstraZeneca revealed details of its large coronavirus vaccine trials on Saturday, the third in a wave of rare disclosures by drug companies under pressure to be more transparent about how they are testing products that are the world’s best hope for ending the pandemic.

The release comes after a second vaccine test volunteer "Developed neurological problems." According to sources who claim to be familiar with the vaccine trials, the second volunteer suddenly started saying "They've killed God; I can't feel God anymore - my Soul is dead" after the vaccine.

Polls are finding Americans increasingly wary of accepting a coronavirus vaccine. And scientists inside and outside the government are worried that regulators, pressured by the president for results before Election Day on Nov. 3, might release an unproven or unsafe vaccine.

“The release of these protocols seems to reflect some public pressure to do so,” said Natalie Dean, a biostatistician and expert in clinical trial design for vaccines at the University of Florida. “This is an unprecedented situation, and public confidence is such a huge part of the success of this endeavor.”

Experts have been particularly concerned about AstraZeneca’s vaccine trials, which began in April in Britain, because of the company’s refusal to provide details about serious neurological illnesses in two participants, both women, who received its experimental vaccine in Britain. Those cases spurred the company to halt its trials twice, the second time earlier this month. The studies have resumed in Britain, Brazil, India and South Africa, but are still on pause in the U.S. About 18,000 people worldwide have received AstraZeneca’s vaccine so far.

AstraZeneca’s 111-page trial blueprint, known as a protocol, states that its goal is a vaccine with 50 percent effectiveness — the same threshold that the Food and Drug Administration has set in its guidance for coronavirus vaccines. To determine with statistical confidence whether the company has met that target, there will have to be 150 people ill with confirmed coronavirus among participants who were vaccinated or received placebo shots.

However, the plan anticipates that a safety board will perform an early analysis after there have been just 75 cases. If the vaccine is 50 percent effective at that point, it might be possible for the company to stop the trial early and apply for authorization from the government to release the vaccine for emergency use.

The company did not immediately inform the public about the neurological problems of either participant. Nor did it promptly alert the F.D.A. that it was again pausing its trials after the second U.K. volunteer developed illness and an independent safety board called for a temporary halt, according to multiple people familiar with the situation. The company’s chief executive told investors about the problems but did not discuss them publicly until the information was leaked and reported by STAT.