Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has begun the worldwide withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” since the pandemic.
The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria‘s marketing authorisations within Europe.
“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines,” the company said, adding that this had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.
According to media reports, the company has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
The vaccine is widely credited with protecting many millions of people from the virus. However 81 patients have died and 364 suffered severe reactions, some of them resulting in catastrophic injuries as a result of blood clots caused by the jab.
In March 2023, i revealed legal action was being taken against AstraZeneca by the families of 19 people who died after being vaccinated, and 54 patients who suffered severe reactions but survived.
The firm’s application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on 7 May , according to the Telegraph, which first reported the development.
London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals in 2023 after a slowdown in growth as Covid medicine sales declined.
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