Why did Johnson and Johnson pause the trial of COVID-19 vaccine?

Johnson and Johnson were one of the main participants searching for the COVID-19 Vaccine. The Vaccine search was said to be temporarily off because of an unexplained illness in a study participant. According to the statement released, the participant is being reviewed and evaluated by the ENSEMBLE independent Data Safety Monitoring Board as well as the internal clinical and safety physicians. A statement was released to other researchers running the 60,000- patient's clinical trial states that a pausing rule has been met, that the online system used to enroll patients in the study has been closed. The documents were obtained by STAT. The company declined to provide further details concerning the hold on searching for a vaccine. The vaccine is said to not be under a clinical hold.

One of the main reasons why Johnson and Johnson first stopped the trial for the Covid 19 vaccine is one of the main participants of the said study has gotten sick. The person would need to recuperate first and start to feel better before the study can progress. It might not have been such a big deal but the sickness of the person can only be classified as “unexplained.” They would need to know what caused this first before they can proceed with the next steps. Their main goal is to eventually stop the spread of the virus by providing the right vaccine that can combat it.