AstraZeneca has reportedly 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 maker, however, said the worldwide withdrawal was initiated because of commercial reasons due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” for Covid-19,” The Telegraph reported.
The vaccine was superseded by updated vaccines that tackle new variants, AstraZeneca said.
The company also said it 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 vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield.
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”.
TTS causes blood clots and a low blood platelet count in humans and has been linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK.
However, the vaccine maker has denied that the decision to withdraw Covishield is linked to the court case.
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