AstraZeneca withdraws Covid-19 vaccine and admits to rare side effects

In May, AstraZeneca retracted the marketing authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine due to commercial reasons. This decision followed months after the company acknowledged in court that the vaccine could cause a rare side effect, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which leads to clots and reduced platelet counts.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was one of the first to hit the market, boasting a reasonable success rate in trials.

While the vaccine makers initially had an agreement with Donald Trump’s administration in 2020, by the time they were ready for deployment, they had received approval only from the EU, not the United States.

Despite being banned in several European countries in March 2021, AstraZeneca’s vaccine gained emergency use approval in over 50 countries. Also, the Serum Institute in India mass-produced it, backed by more than $300 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) to cater to India and other low/middle income nations.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine was preferred by low- and middle-income nations due to its stability at higher temperatures, unlike mRNA vaccines which strictly require lower temperatures.

As the vaccine is withdrawn, over 3 billion doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have already been administered.

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