AstraZeneca Withdraws COVID Vaccine After Controversy
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
LONDON/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – AstraZeneca is withdrawing its controversial coronavirus vaccine, which it claims saved millions of lives but has come under criticism over cases of severe blood clotting.
The decision came months after the British-Swedish pharma giant admitted the drug could cause very rare but life-threatening injuries such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
The European Medicines Agency also announced the withdrawal, Worthy News observed, which means that the Vaxzevria vaccine is no longer authorized to be marketed or sold in European Union countries.
Vaxzevria, developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, was one of the primary COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, with over 3 billion doses supplied since the first was administered in Britain on January 4, 2021.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said the decision was made because there is now a variety of newer vaccines available that have been adapted to target COVID-19 variants.
This has led to a decline in demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied. Last year, Vaxzevria sales totaled just $12 million.
Before that decline, “According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone, and over 3 billion doses were supplied globally,” the firm said.
EFFORTS RECOGNIZED
“Our efforts have been recognized by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic. 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.”
However, AstraZeneca, known for its popular cancer drugs, entered the Covid-19 crisis with little experience developing vaccines. And the success of Vaxzevria was far from guaranteed.
Soon after the rollout began, the company came under fire from policymakers and health officials in Europe and the United States for missteps, including during clinical trials.
The firm omitted crucial information about side effects from public statements, including information about the blood clotting issue.
Production delays also strained relations with EU leaders.
In April 2021, British authorities recommended providing under 30s an alternative jab after Britain’s drugs regulator found that 79 people had suffered rare blood clots after vaccination – 19 of whom had died.
The regulator said this “was not proof.”
the jab had caused the clots, but the link was getting firmer.
LAWSUIT
Fast forward, AstraZeneca is now facing a group action lawsuit in Britain brought by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of 51 claimants due to injuries allegedly caused by Vaxzevria.
Twelve of the claimants are acting on behalf of a loved one who died following a complication allegedly caused by the vaccine-related to the blood clotting issue.
Asked about the court case, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems… From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile, and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”
Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in England, claimed the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were “essentially better products.”
However, they have also faced questions about side effects.
The newer mRNA vaccines use genetic material to instruct cells to make the coronavirus spike protein, which in turn causes the body to create antibodies to combat an actual COVID infection, experts say.
AstraZeneca’s COVID shot uses a cold virus common to chimpanzees as a viral vector to carry the spike protein from the coronavirus into cells.
The withdrawal of AstraZeneca was expected to increase pressure on governments to investigate vaccine policies.
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