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# Covid Vaccine Hold Should not Slow Development: Fauci
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/covid-vaccine-hold-should-not-slow-development-fauci/
- Published: 2020-09-09T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:28:11.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Biologics, #legacy-id-D5147617

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director **Anthony Fauci** has dismissed any notion that a reported serious adverse reaction associated with an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine trial ([see earlier story](https://www.fdaweb.com/astrazeneca-covid-19-trial-stops-over-safety-signal/)) could delay development of this or any other vaccine. Speaking to Fox News 9/9, Fauci confirmed that the reported adverse reaction was transverse myelitis, an inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord. The neurological disorder often damages the insulating material covering nerve cell fibers (myelin), and it interrupts messages that the spinal cord nerves send throughout the body.

Fauci said the adverse event should be reassuring to Americans because it shows that the system works. It shows that when there is a serious adverse event, transparent mechanisms are in place to stop enrollment and alert others at different trial sites to see if similar adverse events are occurring, he said. Despite the severity of the one adverse event, Fauci said he expects researchers will be on lookout for similar events and that the trial will resume shortly.