AstraZeneca mentioned on Tuesday (Could 7) it had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine as a consequence of a “surplus of accessible up to date vaccines” because the pandemic.
The corporate additionally mentioned it will proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria’s advertising and marketing authorisations inside Europe.
“As a number of, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed there’s a surplus of accessible up to date vaccines,” the corporate mentioned, including that this had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is now not being manufactured or provided.
In keeping with media reviews, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has beforehand admitted in courtroom paperwork that the vaccine causes unwanted effects comparable to blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
The agency’s utility to withdraw the vaccine was made on Mar 5 and got here into impact on Could 7, in line with the Telegraph, which first reported the event.
The British newspaper mentioned the authorized doc, submitted in February as a part of class motion lawsuit proceedings, said that the corporate’s vaccine “can, in very uncommon circumstances, trigger TTS”.
In keeping with the World Well being Group (WHO), the situation often known as thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome is a “severe and life-threatening hostile occasion”.
Singapore has not authorised using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. Well being Minister On Ye Kung mentioned this in a parliamentary reply in April 2023.
He was responding to a query in regards to the withdrawal of the AstraZeneca jab in Australia as a consequence of considerations about thrombosis.
London-listed AstraZeneca started transferring into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and weight problems medication via a number of offers final 12 months after a slowdown in development as COVID-19 medication gross sales declined.