The COVID-19 Novel Corona Virus Pandemic has been ravaging the world for over and the scientists are literally racing against time to identify a vaccine for this deadly virus, which has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Though Russia has already registered two vaccine candidates, the rest of the world has not completely accepted it as yet, for the two vaccines have not yet completed the all important Phase 3 trials, which prove the efficacy of the vaccine. However, there are about 15 other vaccine candidates from across the world, which are in the final levels of testing and are expected to move into the production stage soon. One such vaccine candidate is the AZD1222, which is being jointly developed by the Swedish company AstraZeneca, in association with the Oxford University.

This vaccine candidate is also commonly known as the Oxford Vaccine. The Phase 3 trials for this candidate are being held in various countries across the world. Now, a shocking incident has come to light! A volunteer, who was participating in these Phase 3 trials of the Oxford Vaccine, has suddenly passed away in Brazil! This information was given out by Brazil's health surveillance agency - ANVISA. However, the agency, AstraZeneca and Oxford University have not yet given out any further details about this incident, except that the trials would continue. However, a media report from Brazil states that the volunteer happened to be a 28-year-old male from Rio de Janeiro and that he had died due to COVID related complications. However, the lack of any details from the companies and that the trials are continuing could only mean that the volunteer could have been one of the volunteers who had been given just placebos.

Reports state that there are over 5000 volunteers participating in COVID vaccine trials in Brazil alone. It is being said that as part of the trial, the participating volunteers were either given doses of the experimental COVID-19 vaccine or doses of a previously approved vaccine against meningitis. Meningitis is said to be a bacterial, fungal or viral infection which causes inflammation in the brain and membranes of the spinal cord. Some reports clearly state that the deceased volunteer was not given a shot of AZD1222, thus clarifying that his death was not due to the vaccine candidate. A statement by AstraZeneca states that this issue was being carefully assessed by trial investigators, just like any other significant medical event. It is also being assessed by regulatory authorities and an independent safety monitoring committee. Stay tuned for updates...