Covid-19 vaccine trial paused as participant falls ill

The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has paused global trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine due to an "unexplained illness" in a study participant, Reuters reported on Wednesday. "This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials," the company said. Earlier, the European Commission signed a contract with the British company to ensure 300m doses for Europeans.