October 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Reuters reported today that a 28-year-old Brazilian volunteer in AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial died.
The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) is currently investigating “data received” on the vaccine trial volunteer’s death. While Anvisa declared that “data on clinical research volunteers must be kept confidential,” the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the volunteer is a recently graduated doctor who “worked on the front line of combating COVID-19 in three hospitals in Rio de Janeiro.”
Reuters said that according to “a source familiar with the matter,” “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 vaccine.”
However, there are conflicting reports.
According to Leoleli Schwartz, writing for MedScape Medical News, a report in O Globo said the volunteer received a dose of the AZDI222 vaccine — the vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 — in late July.
It is unclear whether the volunteer received the COVID-19 vaccine or the placebo.
Reuters reported that according to CNN Brasil, the volunteer died from COVID-19 complications.
A spokesperson for the Federal University of São Paulo, which is helping coordinate Phase 3 clinical trials in Brazil, said, “It is up to an independent review board to decide whether trials will continue.”