The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will be withdrawn worldwide just months after the firm admitted that the jab causes a rare but dangerous side effect, however, AstraZeneca insists that the decision to pull the vaccine was purely made for commercial reasons.
AstraZeneca pulled its “marketing authorisation” for its COVID-19 vaccine, known commercially as Vaxzevria, in the European Union on Tuesday and plans to do so in the UK and other countries where it was deployed in the coming months. The decision will not impact the United States, where the jab never received approval to go to market.
The pharmaceutical giant insisted that the decision was made for commercial considerations, saying that the vaccine is no longer being manufactured and that more recent vaccines have been developed to confront novel variants of the Chinese virus.
The move comes after AstraZeneca admitted in court documents that the jab could cause the rare but dangerous side effect of Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), which can cause people to develop blood clots and suffer from low blood platelets. The vaccine has been tied to at least 81 deaths in the UK, alone, in addition to hundreds of injuries in the country, The Telegraph reports.
In a case brought by 51 alleged vaccine victims seeking up to £100 million in damages at Britain’s High Court, AstraZeneca said that its Covid vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.
Amid reports of blood clot-related deaths speculated to have been tied to the vaccine, multiple European nations began to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca jab in early 2021. The European Medicines Agency, which serves as Europe’s main drug regulator, said in April of 2021 that while it had found a “possible link” between the vaccine and “unusual blood clots with low blood platelets”, it found that the benefits of the jab still outweighed the risks.
The British government also largely dropped the vaccine by the second half of 2021 — after some 50 million shots were given out — and was replaced by jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna for the winter booster shot campaign. In 2023, Britain’s official statistician said there is “evidence of an increase in cardiac death in young women after a first dose of non-mRNA vaccines, with the risk being 3.5 times higher in the 12 weeks following vaccination, compared with the longer-term risk.”
Billions of AstraZeneca shots were distributed to developing nations through a United Nations programme given that it was cheaper to produce than the alternatives, however, many nations still switched to MRNA alternatives.
Sarah Moore, of the Leigh Day law firm representing alleged victims in the UK, said of the decision to pull the vaccine: “To those who we represent, all of whom have suffered bereavement or serious injury as a result of the AstraZeneca vaccine, this decision to withdraw marketing authorisation, ending the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the EU, will be welcomed.
“It will be seen as a decision linked with AstraZeneca’s recent admission that the vaccine can cause TTS, and the fact that regulators across the world suspended or stopped usage of the vaccine following concerns regarding TTS.
“This is an important regulatory step, but still our clients remain without fair compensation. We will continue to fight for the compensation our clients need and campaign for reform of the vaccine damage payment scheme.”
The pharma firm claimed that the decision to remove authorisation for the jab had nothing to do with the case, saying in a statement per The Telegraph: “We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally.
“Our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic.
“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied. AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate withdrawal of the marketing authorisations for Vaxzevria within Europe.
“We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic.”