In a significant development, AstraZeneca, the UK-based pharmaceutical company, announced on Tuesday the global withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria. This decision comes days after the company acknowledged the potential of its vaccine to cause a rare side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS).
The company cited a “surplus of available updated vaccines” as the reason for the withdrawal. With the development of multiple variant Covid-19 vaccines, there has been a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being produced or distributed.
Court documents reveal that AstraZeneca had previously admitted that the vaccine could cause side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts. Despite this, the company maintains that patient safety is their highest priority and that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.
AstraZeneca collaborated with the University of Oxford to create the vaccine and is currently dealing with a lawsuit claiming that their vaccine has caused deaths and severe harm. The company also partnered with the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, to provide the Covishield vaccine to the Indian government.
The Telegraph reported that AstraZeneca’s application to withdraw the vaccine was submitted on March 5 and became effective on May 7. The report also highlighted the case of Jamie Scott, who developed a blood clot and a bleed on his brain after receiving the vaccine in April 2021, resulting in a lasting brain injury.
Scott’s wife, Kate, stated that the medical world has long acknowledged that vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) was caused by the vaccine. However, in May 2023, AstraZeneca informed Scott’s lawyers that they do not acknowledge that TTS is induced by the vaccine on a general level.
In a legal document submitted to the high court, AstraZeneca admitted, “It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known.”
As per the report, fifty-one cases have been filed in the High Court, with affected individuals and their families pursuing compensation amounting to an estimated £100 million. This development marks a significant turn in the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
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