Global pharma giant AstraZeneca has decided to withdraw its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide after the company admitted in court documents that it can have dangerous side effects, according to a report published by a leading British daily.
However, the company has insisted that the vaccine is not being withdrawn over side effects but due to commercial reasons.
Due to low demand and having been superseded by updated versions of the Covid-19 vaccines to fight new variants, the company has stopped making or supplying it.
AstraZeneca had made an application for withdrawal of the vaccine on March 7 and it came into effect on May 7.
After the company’s decision to withdraw its “marketing authorisation”, the vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union.
Similar applications will be submitted in the UK and other nations in the coming months that have given a go-ahead to the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria.
The development comes just days after AstraZeneca acknowledged in a document submitted before a UK court that its vaccine can cause rare side effects such as TTS and low blood platelet count.
TTS, which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, has been associated with at least 81 deaths in the UK and hundreds of serious injuries.
As many as 51 cases have been lodged in the UK High Court against the pharma major with victims seeking damages estimated to be worth up to GBP 100 million.
In the class action lawsuits, victims and grieving relatives alleged deaths and severe injuries after taking the vaccine.
AstraZeneca and Oxford University had developed the vaccine during the Coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine was produced by India’s Serum Institute of India (SII) and widely administered in the country during the pandemic.