Brazilian Health Authorities have confirmed that a young doctor has died last Monday, 19th of October, 2020, while volunteering for the Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Trial. Dr. Joao Pedro Feitosa, 28 years old, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was part of a control group which took the placebo. Dr. Feitosa did not take the experimental Oxford vaccine.
The death of the young doctor, although cause for concern, will not stop the clinical trials of the Oxford Vaccine.
Anvisa, a government body responsible for approval, scrutiny and regularization of pharmaceutical products in Brazil, has said that this tragedy will not halt the clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil.
Statement from Anvisa
“In relation to the death of the Oxford vaccine testing volunteer, Anvisa was formally informed of this fact on October 19, 2020. Data related to the investigation carried out by the International Safety Assessment Committee was shared with the Agency. It is important to highlight that, based on the ethical confidentiality commitments provided for in the protocol, the regulatory agencies involved receive partial data related to the investigation carried out by this committee, which suggested that the study should continue, thus the process remains under evaluation.
Therefore, Anvisa reiterates that, according to national and international regulations of Good Clinical Practices, data on clinical research volunteers must be kept confidential, in accordance with principles of confidentiality, human dignity and protection of participants.
Anvisa is committed to complying with these regulations, in order to ensure the privacy of volunteers and also the country’s reliability for carrying out studies of such relevance.
The Agency has fulfilled, and will fulfill its institutional mission to protect the health of the Brazilian population. “
One day after the death of João Pedro Feitosa, even before it was announced that he was one of the volunteers, the Carlos Chagas Academic Center (UFRJ) published on social networks (Facebook) remembering the emptiness and longing of the former student.
The text was signed by friends and João Pedro ‘s girlfriend.
“João, I think that in this little text I could remember how good an exemplary doctor and student you were, but I think the memory that I will mention to everyone here will be different. I want to keep forever how good a boyfriend, brother and friend you were. The pain in the chest, the emptiness and longing since you left are growing every moment and what gives us strength in that moment, besides the affection of so many friends you made in life, is remembering how you were ”, says one of the excerpts.
