UK pharma company Astrazeneca admits its Covishield vaccine can cause rare side effect

UK pharma giant AstraZeneca has admitted for the first time that their Covid vaccine can cause a rare side effect called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS).

This admission comes as the company faces a lawsuit alleging severe harm and deaths caused by the vaccine, according to a report by The Telegraph.

 “It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known,” the company said in a confession in February. This marks a notable reversal that could lead to a multi-million-pound legal payout.

In 2023, a case was filed against the giant by Jamie Scott, a father of two who claimed that he has been left with a permanent brain injury after developing a blood clot upon receiving the vaccine in April 2021, reported Deccan herald.

This confession of AstraZeneca is contrary to its 2023 claim when they told the lawyers of Scott: “We do not accept that TTS is caused by the vaccine at a generic level”.

TTS is thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which is basically a clot in blood vessels of the brain or elsewhere, along with a low platelet count. It is known to occur in very rare instances following certain types of vaccines and also from other causes.

The company is being sued in a class action over claims that its vaccine can cause a health issue called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS). This condition leads to blood clots forming in the body and a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood.

Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in India where it was produced by the Serum Institute.

Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome or TTS is a very rare syndrome that occurs when a person has blood clots as well as low platelet count. TTS is also known as 'vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia' (VITT).

A report in Deccan Herald said that the symptoms of TTS occur between 2-42 days of taking the vaccine and its risk is reportedly slightly higher in people over 60 years of age, as per a report in Health Direct.

In India, a leading private facility in Delhi had in October 2021 said that seven cases of Covid vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) had been reported via "gold standard tests" at the facility, and one of the patients died due to complications.

News agency PTI reported that such cases have emerged in early 2021 from Denmark, the UK, Germany and Canada and, on August 11, the UN had issued guidelines for diagnosis and management of TTS.