Brazilian media disclosed that Oxford University in the United Kingdom and the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca collaborated to develop an experimental vaccine against Covid-19 pneumonia. One volunteer who participated in the Phase 3 human trial in Brazil died of complications from Covid-19 pneumonia. The relevant unit is currently investigating the main cause of death.

According to a report by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo on the 21st, the volunteer subject is a 28-year-old doctor João Pedro Feitosa living in Rio de Janeiro.

The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) cited the “Ethical Confidentiality Commitment” and did not specify whether the volunteers were vaccinated or placebo, only that they received a death notice on October 19.

The University of Oxford (Oxford) and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca collaborated on the development of the experimental vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 against COVID-19 (commonly known as Covid-19 pneumonia), which is the main bet of the Brazilian federal government to promote vaccination in the future .

The vaccine began in Brazil in June for Phase 3 human trials. So far, 8,000 volunteers have participated in the study.

AstraZeneca, the University of Oxford, the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) and the Rio Dore Institute (IDOR), which are responsible for the implementation of testing in Brazil, all emphasized that they cannot provide detailed information based on professional ethics.

However, the independent committee pointed out after analysis and evaluation that there was no concern about the safety of clinical trials, and it is recommended to continue the research.

Microbiologist Natalia Pasternak, director of the Brazilian Institute of Scientific Issues (Instituto Questão de Ciência), said that the cause of death of volunteers participating in clinical trials must be analyzed carefully and calmly, and may even have nothing to do with the vaccine.

If the effectiveness and safety of the Oxford vaccine are confirmed through research, the Brazilian Ministry of Health plans to spend 1.9 billion Brazilian dollars. It is expected to provide 100 million doses of the vaccine in the first half of next year, and Brazil will reproduce it in the second half of the year. 165 million doses.

In addition to the Oxford vaccine, the experimental vaccine CoronaVac developed by Sinovac Biotech in China and the Instituto Butantan Institute (Instituto Butantan) in China, the mRNA gene vaccine BNT162 developed by BioNTech in Germany and Pfizer in the United States, and The vaccine Ad26.COV2.S developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is currently undergoing phase 3 human trials in Brazil.