A volunteer in the Brazilian arm of AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s coronavirus vaccine trial has died, the country’s health authority said.
G1 Rio in Brazil has confirmed the participant to be Dr. João Pedro R. Feitosa, a 28-year-old from Rio De Janeiro. He is reported to have died from complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Reports indicate that Feitosa 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.
‘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,’.