AstraZeneca Reportedly Withdraws Covid Vaccine Globally

AstraZeneca has reportedly initiated a global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine. The UK-based media outlet The Telegraph reported that AstraZeneca said that the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine was due to a "surplus of available updated vaccines" since the pandemic. As per the report, the pharmaceutical giant's application to withdraw the Vaxzervria vaccine was initiated on March 5 and came into effect on May 7.

"As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines," the vaccine maker said, as quoted by Reuters. AstraZenca also reportedly added that this had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria. Notably, the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield. This major announcement comes following reports that the UK-headquartered AstraZeneca has recently admitted in court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause a rare side effect.

AstraZenca is being sued in a class action over claims that its vaccine caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. In a legal document submitted to the High Court in February, the company said that its Covid vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS," reported The Telegraph. TTS, which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count. However, AstraZenca has reportedly insisted that the withdrawal of the vaccine is not linked to the court case.