Astra-Oxford Covid vaccine back in race as US FDA allows trials to resume

The swift resumption of the other trials will let health officials comb through more data as the American study proceeds

A seven-week halt to a U.S. trial of the Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford bumped it from pole position in the race for a protective shot, but it’s still in the leading pack.

High rates of infection as the pandemic regains strength and the large numbers of participants in other trials around the world should help keep the vaccine program on course, according to scientists.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the trial to resume Friday, nearly two months after a volunteer in a U.K. study became ill, and weeks after other regulators elsewhere had