Oxford vaccine trial pause isn’t bad news – it’s the process working

By Clare Wilson

The has been great alarm over the news that a trial of a vaccine candidate for the coronavirus, from the University of Oxford and drug firm AstraZeneca, has had to be put on hold after a participant developed strange neurological symptoms.

It might seem a cause for concern, but, in fact, it shows that research and development for this vaccine is proceeding exactly as it should do. It also highlights the danger of bypassing the normal stage of large safety trials, as Russia and China seem to be doing with their vaccines.

We don’t yet know the …