AstraZeneca pulls back covid vaccine globally amid reports of side effects, cites commercial reasons

Weeks after acknowledging the rare side effects of it covid vaccine, AstraZeneca announced that it’s pulling back the vaccine from around the world because there are plenty of newer vaccines available now that work better against the virus. 

According to The Telegraph, the UK-based pharma giant said that the decision is based purely on commercial reasons due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” for COVID-19.

The report said the vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union after the company voluntarily withdrew its “marketing authorization”.

Reportedly, the company said that they’re also stopping the sale of their vaccine, Vaxzevria, in Europe. They explained that since other vaccines have been made for different versions of COVID-19, fewer people want Vaxzevria, so they’re not making or selling it anymore.

The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 this year and came into effect on Tuesday. In February this year, AstraZeneca admitted that their vaccine can cause issues like blood clots and low blood platelets. 

In court documents from February, AstraZeneca acknowledged that Covishield can, in extremely rare instances, trigger TTS or Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.

TTS results in blood clots and a decreased blood platelet count in humans, and it has been associated with at least 81 deaths in the UK. Seven cases were also reported in India with one death which was caused owing to complications. 

However, the vaccine manufacturer maintains that there is connection between the decision to withdraw Covishield and the court case. 

The pharmaceutical giant is facing a £100 million lawsuit in the UK with 51 cases lodged so far in the High Court.
AstraZeneca, had developed AZD1222 vaccine after the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2020 in collaboration with the University of Oxford. In India and other low-and-middle-income countries, it was manufactured and supplied under the name “Covishield” by Serum Institute of India (SII) through a licence from the university and the Swedish-British drugmaker.