Anvisa, The Brazilian National Health Agency, has said that testing of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University will continue despite the death of a volunteer in a clinical trial in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The agency declined to provide further details, citing confidentiality of those involved in the trials. It is not known whether the volunteer’s death was related to COVID-19 or whether he or she received the vaccine or the placebo. However, a person reportedly familiar with the matter stated that the deceased individual did not receive the vaccine. The Brazilian government currently has plans to purchase the vaccine and produce it at the FioCruz biomedical research center in Rio de Janeiro. Another vaccine--from Sinovac in China--is also undergoing testing in Sao Paulo. Brazil currently has 154,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths, which is the second highest number of deaths worldwide behind the United States, which currently has 221,000. Source
