Astrazeneca announces withdrawal of Covid-19 vaccine after report on rare side effects

AstraZeneca has announced it is withdrawing the Oxford-AstraZeneca novel coronavirus vaccine from the market, weeks after admitting that it can cause uncommon side effects.

According to reports, AstraZeneca said 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The vaccine was no longer being manufactured or supplied, after being superseded by updated vaccines which have the capability to tackle new variants, the report stated.

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Reports also say 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.

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.

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AstraZeneca, in collaboration with The University of Oxford, had developed AZD1222 vaccine after the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2020.
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.

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