Brazilian health agency Anvisa has announced that a volunteer in the Brazilian trial of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s investigational Covid-19 vaccine has died, but the trial is expected to continue.
According to the agency, the International Evaluation and Security Committee, which is overseeing the trial, recommended the continuation of the trial.
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In an email statement to CNN, Oxford University said: “All significant medical incidents, whether participants are in the control group or the Covid-19 vaccine group, are independently reviewed.
“Following careful assessment of this case in Brazil, there have been no concerns about the safety of the clinical trial and the independent review in addition to the Brazilian regulator have recommended that the trial should continue.”
To date, 8,000 volunteers have been administered with either the vaccine candidate or a placebo in the trial being held in Rio.
The participant who died during the trial did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine, reported NDTV.
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By GlobalDataAn AstraZeneca spokesperson said that the company cannot comment on individual cases in an ongoing trial due to medical confidentiality and clinical trial regulations.
According to vaccine experts, volunteers fall ill in clinical trials and can die owing to a number of reasons that may not be linked to the vaccine.
In July, AstraZeneca put a voluntary hold on its trial of the vaccine candidate after a participant fell ill. The company said that the patient had an undiagnosed case of multiple sclerosis and the illness was not related to the vaccine.
In September, AstraZeneca paused all of its global trials due to an illness in another participant.
The trial has resumed in the UK but is yet to restart in the US.
