AstraZeneca Decides to Withdraw Covid Vaccine Globally

• By Thetripurapost Web Desk, London
• May 08, 2024
• 139

British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has decided to stop buying and selling its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide. 

According to the report of The Telegraph, the company has said that the vaccine is no longer being manufactured and supplied.

AstraZeneca claims that the decision to discontinue the vaccine has not been taken due to side effects. 

The company said that the vaccine is being removed from the markets due to commercial reasons. Now there are many other advanced vaccines available in the market, which can fight different variants of the virus. 

In such a situation, the manufacturing and supply of AstraZeneca vaccine has been stopped.

According to media reports, AstraZeneca had applied to withdraw the vaccine on March 5 this year. It came into effect from Tuesday (May 7). The vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union.

AstraZeneca created the Corona vaccine in collaboration with Oxford University in 2020. From its formula, Serum Institute in India made a vaccine named Covishield. Whereas in Britain and Australia it is known as 'Vaxjaveria'.

Actually, AstraZeneca had told the British High Court in February that their Covid-19 vaccine could have dangerous side effects. 

The company said in its documents submitted in the court that its corona vaccine can cause thrombosis thrombocytopenia syndrome i.e. TTS in some cases.

Due to this disease, blood clots form in the body and the number of platelets falls. However, this will happen only in very rare cases. AstraZeneca is accused of causing many deaths due to their vaccine.

Many others had to face serious illnesses. There are 51 cases going on against the company in the High Court. The victims have demanded compensation of about Rs 1 thousand crore from AstraZeneca.

In April 2021, a person named Jamie Scott got this vaccine. After this his condition worsened. The formation of blood clots in the body had a direct impact on his brain. 

Apart from this, internal bleeding also occurred in Scott's brain. According to the report, doctors told his wife that they would not be able to save Scott.

Scott filed a complaint against AstraZeneca last year. In May 2023, in response to Scott's allegations, the company claimed that their vaccine could not cause TTS. 

However, in the documents submitted in the High Court in February this year, the company retracted this claim. The information about these documents has now come to light.

However, the company currently does not have information about what causes this disease in the vaccine. After these documents came to light, Scott's lawyer has claimed in the court that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has flaws and wrong information was given about its effectiveness.

Scientists first identified a new disease, vaccine-induced immune thrombosis thrombocytopenia syndrome (VITT), in March 2021. 

Lawyers associated with the victims have claimed that VITT is actually a subset of TTS. However, AstraZeneca rejected this.

AstraZeneca said, "Our condolences to those who have lost their loved ones or who have suffered serious illnesses. The safety of patients is our priority. Our regulatory authority approves all medicines and vaccines. Complies with all standards for safe use."

The company further said, "Clinical trials and data from different countries have proven that our vaccine meets the safety standards. Regulators around the world have also acknowledged that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its rare side effects." There are far more.”

The special thing is that this vaccine is no longer being used in Britain. Apart from this, it has also been banned in Australia. According to the Telegraph report, scientists had realized the danger of this vaccine a few months after its launch in the market. After this, it was suggested that people below 40 years of age should also be given a dose of some other vaccine. This is because the harm caused by AstraZeneca vaccine was greater than the danger of Corona.

According to the Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory (MHRA), there are 81 cases in Britain in which it is suspected that people died due to blood clots caused by the vaccine. According to the MHRA, one in every five people who suffered side effects has died.

Report mentioned according to data obtained through Freedom of Information, the government had given compensation to 163 people in Britain in February. Of these, there were 158 who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The company has also claimed that in April 2021 itself, they had included the risk of TTS in some cases in the product information. It has been proven in many studies that in the first year after the introduction of AstraZeneca vaccine during the Corona epidemic, it has saved the lives of about 60 lakh people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had also said that this vaccine is safe and effective for people aged 18 years and above. At the time of its launch, the then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had called it a major victory for British science.