AstraZeneca said on Tuesday (May 7) it had initiated 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 Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
The firm’s application to withdraw the vaccine was made on Mar 5 and came into effect on May 7, according to the Telegraph, which first reported the development.
The British newspaper said the legal document, submitted in February as part of class action lawsuit proceedings, stated that the company’s vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the condition known as thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome is a “serious and life-threatening adverse event”.
Singapore has not authorised the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. Health Minister On Ye Kung said this in a parliamentary reply in April 2023.
He was responding to a question about the withdrawal of the AstraZeneca jab in Australia due to concerns about thrombosis.
London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals last year after a slowdown in growth as COVID-19 medicine sales declined.
