AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine volunteer dies in Brazil

A volunteer in a clinical trial of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca has died, Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) confirmed on Wednesday.

The British-Swedish multinational is developing the vaccine in cooperation with Oxford University.

CNN Brazil reported that the volunteer was a 28-year-old man from Rio de Janeiro and that he died from complications related to Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

But the newspaper O Globo said he had received a placebo instead of the vaccine, quoting unnamed sources.

Tests were due to continue while the case was being evaluated.

In September, AstraZeneca temporarily paused trials of the vaccine after a participant fell ill.

Brazil has confirmed more than 5.2 million coronavirus infections, the third-highest number worldwide.