AstraZeneca Announces Global Withdrawal of COVID-19 Vaccine Sales
Posted by admin on 2024-05-14 |
AstraZeneca
announced on Tuesday its decision to globally withdraw the Oxford-AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccine, weeks after acknowledging its rare side effects.
Reasons
for Withdrawal
According to
a report by The Telegraph, AstraZeneca said the vaccine was being removed from
markets for commercial reasons. The vaccine was no longer being manufactured or
supplied, after being superseded by updated vaccines which have the capability
to tackle new variants, the report stated.
The
application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 this year and came into
effect on Tuesday.
AstraZeneca
has insisted the decision to withdraw the vaccine is not linked to the court
case or its admission that it can cause TTS. It said that the timing was pure
coincidence.
Plea
in Supreme Court
The
AstraZeneca Vaxzevria vaccine, also produced by the Serum Institute of India,
was sold in India under the name Covishield. Over 1.75 billion doses of
Covishield have been administered in India.
Recently, a
plea was filed in the Supreme Court seeking the formation of a medical expert
panel to examine Covishield's side effects.
Advocate
Vishal Tiwari requested the formation of a medical expert panel, including
experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, led by its director
and supervised by a retired Supreme Court justice, to assess Covishield's side
effects and risk factors.
Advocate
Tiwari, in the application, said that after Covid-19, there has been an
increase in the cases of death due to heart attacks and sudden collapse of
persons.
Serum Institute of India (SII) Sued
Serum
Institute of India (SII), which produces AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine under
the brand name Covishield in India, is also facing a lawsuit.
The parents
of Karunya, who passed away on July 2021 following the administration of the
Covishield vaccination dose has decided to sue the SII.
