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An opioid epidemic. High smoking rates. Health care provider shortages. Indiana faces serious public health challenges. Side Effects Public Media provides in-depth coverage of these issues and more.

AstraZeneca, IU School of Medicine COVID-19 Vaccine Trial On Hold

Photo courtesy of Indiana University

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced Wednesday morning that its COVID-19 vaccine trial is on hold after a volunteer in the UK had an unexplained illness.

The pause includes the trial set to take place through the Indiana University School of Medicinethis fall. An IU School of Medicine spokesperson said IU had not begun enrolling vaccine trial participants and no one had been given a dose of the vaccine.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said unexplained illnesses will happen by chance in all large clinical trials, and it is standard procedure for those incidents to be independently reviewed. The company did not say what the unexplained illness was, or when trials will resume.

This story was produced by Side Effects Public Media, a news collaborative covering public health.

Lauren is the digital editor for Side Effects Public Media and WFYI in Indianapolis. She was previously an investigative reporter and is the co-host of the podcast Sick. She can be reached at lbavis@wfyi.org.