New Delhi: After admitting that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause rare side effects, AstraZeneca has announced that it is withdrawing the Oxford-AstraZeneca novel coronavirus shot worldwide. According to a report in The Telegraph, AstraZeneca the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons. The vaccine was no longer being manufactured or supplied after being superseded by updated vaccines, which can tackle new variants. The vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union after the company voluntarily withdrew its “marketing authorisation”. The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 this year and came into effect on Tuesday.
Notably, the pharmaceutical company is being sued in a class action over claims that its vaccine against COVID-19, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury, including TTS — Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome — which causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count.
However, according to The Telegraph, AstraZeneca has insisted the decision to withdraw the vaccine is not linked to the court case or its admission that it can cause TTS. It said that the timing was pure coincidence.
AstraZeneca, in collaboration with The University of Oxford, had developed the AZD1222 vaccine after the coronavirus outbreak in 2020. In India and other low-and-middle-income countries, it was manufactured and supplied under the name “Covishield” by the Serum Institute of India (SII) through a licence from the university and the Swedish-British drugmaker.
AstraZeneca admitted in a legal document submitted to the High Court in February, that its COVID vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.
Lawyers had argued that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is “defective” and that its efficacy has been “vastly overstated.” AstraZeneca then strongly denied these claims. 51 cases have been lodged so far in the High Court, with victims and grieving relatives seeking damages estimated to be worth up to £100 million, a report in The Telegraph noted.
According to the report, Sarah Moore, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, who brings the legal claims, said, “In that context, regrettably it seems that AZ, the Government and their lawyers are more keen to play strategic games and run up legal fees than to engage seriously with the devastating impact that their AZ vaccine has had upon our clients’ lives.”
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