A volunteer in the Brazilian arm of AstraZeneca,28, and the University of Oxford’s coronavirus vaccine trial has died, the country’s health authority Anvisa said Wednesday 21.
He allegedly was not in the group that received the vaccine with sources telling Reuters that if he had been, the trial would have been suspended.
Oxford stated the trial will continue after the death of the volunteer, adding an independent review had revealed no safety concerns.
Reports indicate the volunteer was a 28-year-old man who did not receive the jab prior to his death.
Health officials say testing of the vaccine will continue despite the volunteer’s death, but it is unclear if the vaccine is linked to the deat.
Health officials say testing of the vaccine will continue despite the volunteer’s death, but it is unclear if the vaccine is linked to the deat.
‘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 spokesman for the university said in a statement.
In a statement to NBC News, AstraZeneca also confirmed the trial would go on.
“We cannot comment on individual cases in an ongoing trial of the Oxford vaccine as we adhere strictly to medical confidentiality and clinical trial regulations, but we can confirm that all required review processes have been followed,” the statement said.
“All significant medical events are carefully assessed by trial investigators, an independent safety monitoring committee and the regulatory authorities. These assessments have not led to any concerns about continuation of the ongoing study.”
Brazil’s federal government already has plans to purchase the UK vaccine and produce it at its biomedical research center FioCruz in Rio de Janeiro, while a competing vaccine from China’s Sinovac is being tested by Sao Paulo state’s research center Butantan Institute.
Brazil has the second deadliest outbreak of coronavirus, with more than 154,000 killed by COVID-19, following only the United States.
It is the third worst outbreak in terms of cases, with more than 5.2 million infected, after the United States and India
Upon the news, AstraZeneca shares turned negative and were down 1.7 percent.
The unfortunate incident comes as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) keeps the American arm of AstraZeneca’s trial on hold until further notice.
By Reuters and Daily Mail.
