Volunteer dies during COVID-19 vaccine trial in Brazil

Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) has confirmed that a volunteer in a clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine had died, but vow to continue trail.

The vaccine was developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. It was not immediately clear whether the volunteer received the vaccine or the placebo.

Without providing further details of the volunteer’s death, the authority said the testing will continue.

The British university in a statement said, “Following careful assessment of this case in Brazil, there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical trial, and the independent review in addition to the Brazilian regulator have recommended that the trial should continue.”

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the trial would have been suspended if the volunteer who died had received the COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting the person was part of the control group that was given a meningitis jab.

The Federal University of Sao Paulo said an independent review committee had also recommended the trial continue, confirming that the deceased was Brazilian.

So far, 8,000 of the planned 10,000 volunteers in the trial have been recruited and given the first dose in six cities in Brazil, and many have already received the second shot, said a university spokesman.

More than 155,000 people in Brazil have died from the global pandemic, the second highest death toll in the world after the United States.

Brazil has diagnosed nearly 5.3 million cases of the virus, the third highest in the world after the US and India.