WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday that AstraZeneca’s decision to pause global trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine was unfortunate but not an uncommon safety precaution in a vaccine development process.

AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it voluntarily paused trials, including late-stage ones, after an unexplained illness in a participant, to allow an independent committee to review safety data. It was working to expedite the review to minimize any potential impact on the trial timeline.

Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the pause was not uncommon in vaccine development and that he hoped the company could proceed with its trial.

“This particular candidate from the AstraZeneca company had a serious adverse event, which means you put the rest of the enrollment of individual volunteers on hold until you can work out…