AstraZeneca has initiated a global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, days after it was reported that the British pharmaceutical company admitted that the jab can cause rare side effects. The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield.The vaccine maker has said the worldwide withdrawal was initiated because of commercial reasons due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” for COVID-19.
The company voluntarily withdrew its “marketing authorisation” in the European Union, adding that the vaccine was no longer being produced and could no longer be used. Similar withdrawals will be made across other countries that have been using the vaccine.
The pharmaceutical giant is facing a 100 million pound lawsuit in UK over claims that the Covid jab caused deaths and injuries to several people. AstraZeneca admitted in one of the court documents in February that Covishield can “in very rare cases, cause TTS or Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome”.