Cambridge: The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide after the company acknowledged for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect, according to a report in the British Newspaper The Telegraph.
AstraZeneca has announced that the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons. It further said that the vaccine was no longer being made or supplied, having been superseded by updated vaccines that fight new variants.
The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7. The vaccine can be no longer used in the European Union following the company's decision to withdraw its "marketing authorisation." According to the firm, the latest decision is not linked to the court case or its admission that it can cause TTS.
Similar applications will be submitted in the UK and other nations in the coming months that have given a go-ahead to the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria. In recent months, Vaxzevria has come under scrutiny over a very rare side effect, which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts. In court documents, AstraZeneca in the High Court in February admitted that the vaccine "can, in very rare cases, cause TTS".
TTS which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome has been associated with at least 81 deaths in the UK and hundreds of serious injuries. More than 50 alleged victims and grieving relatives have filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca in a High Court case.
AstraZeneca has insisted that the decision to withdraw the vaccine is not related to the case or admission that it can cause TTS and termed the timing a pure coincidence, according to The Telegraph report.
The controversy
AstraZeneca faces a class action lawsuit over allegations that its Covid-19 vaccine, developed with Oxford University, caused deaths and serious injuries, including TTS.
TTS is a symptom that causes blood clots and low platelet counts. After the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, the vaccine, known as AZD1222, was developed by AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford University.
It was manufactured and supplied under the name “Covishield” by Serum Institute of India (SII) through a license from the university and the Swedish-British drugmaker in India and other low-and-middle-income countries.
"It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known...Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence," AstraZeneca has said.
According to one of the complainants, Jamie Scott, he had received the vaccine in April 2021 which caused him a permanent brain injury after a blood clot. This has prevented him from working and the hospital even told his wife thrice that he's going to die, India Times reported.
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