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LATEST NEWS: AstraZeneca volunteer dies and the Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial in Brazil
- Anvisa, Brazil’s health authority, announced on Wednesday that a volunteer in the AstraZeneca and Oxford University coronavirus vaccine trial died.
- The volunteer was Brazilian, but no details are available on his name, race, or where he lived.
- He was
- Health officials say vaccine testing will continue despite the volunteer’s death.
- It is not known whether death was caused by the vaccine or due to an unrelated pre-existing condition.
- The news comes as the FDA is putting the US branch of the AstraZeneca trial on hold in the US after a British patient developed a rare spinal complication.
A volunteer from the Brazilian arm of AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s coronavirus vaccine trial died.
The Brazilian health authority, Anvisa, said on Wednesday that it had just received information from an investigation into the death.
The Federal University of São Paulo, which is helping to coordinate phase III clinical trials in Brazil, said separately that the volunteer was Brazilian.
However, no details are available on the person’s name, age and race or where they lived in the country.
According to Bloomberg, the volunteer was a 28-year-old male who did not receive the vaccine before his death.
Anvisa, Brazil’s health authority, announced Wednesday that a volunteer at AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s coronavirus vaccine trial died (file image)
Health officials say testing of the vaccine will continue despite the death of the volunteer, but it is unclear if the vaccine is linked to the death. In the photo: AstraZeneca offices in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, July 21
Anvisa said that testing of the vaccine will continue after the volunteer’s death, but did not provide further information, citing the medical confidentiality of those involved in the trials.
In a statement to CNBC, an Oxford spokesperson said there are no concerns about the safety of his jab.
“There have been no concerns about the safety of the clinical trial” after an evaluation of the Brazilian case, said Oxford spokesman Alexander Buxton.
“The independent review, in addition to the Brazilian regulator, has recommended that the trial should continue.”
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The federal government already has plans to purchase the vaccine from the United Kingdom and produce it at its FioCruz biomedical research center in Rio de Janeiro, while the Butantan Institute research center at the São Paulo state research center is testing a vaccine from the competition from China Sinovac.
Brazil has the second deadliest outbreak of coronavirus, with more than 154,000 deaths from COVID-19, only after 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.
Following the news, AstraZeneca shares turned negative and fell 1.7 percent.
It comes as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holds the US arm of the AstraZeneca trial on hold.
The late-stage study was stopped on September 8 when a British participant was rushed to hospital after suffering a severe reaction.
An internal security report revealed the The patient was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of a section of the spinal cord.
The condition damages the myelin sheath, an insulating barrier of fatty protein that protects the nerves and interrupts the messages sent by the nerves in the spinal cord.
This causes pain, weakness, abnormal sensations, and bladder and bowel problems, and can even lead to permanent paralysis.
Testing had resumed at all other sites, but not in the United States.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the FDA had completed its review of the safety data and planned to allow the trial to resume in the US.
However, it is not clear whether the death of the Brazilian patient will reverse this decision.
