Global clinical trials for the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine have restarted after they were halted last week when a participant experienced an adverse event.

The manufacturer of the vaccine, AstraZeneca, said a woman in the UK had developed severe neurological symptoms after being administered the vaccine as part of the phase 3 trials.

No further details were provided but reports in the New York Times said she was hospitalised with symptoms consistent with transverse myelitis, a rare inflammation of the spinal cord.

The University of Oxford, where the vaccine was developed, announced at the weekend that the trials were safe to resume after an independent safety review committee reported back to the UK’s trial regulator.