Washington [USA], may 13: The European Commission recently announced the termination of circulation of AstraZeneca 's Covid-19 Vaxzevria vaccine from May 7. Previously, according to The Conversation , AstraZeneca filed an application on March 27 to terminate the circulation license of this vaccine in European Union (EU) member countries. AstraZeneca said it will also proactively coordinate with country management agencies to terminate Vaxzevria's marketing authorization when there is no longer a need for use.
Developed in collaboration with Oxford University (UK) and after clinical trials, the first dose of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine was injected on January 4, 2021. That year, about 2.5 billion doses of this vaccine were injected globally amid serious supply shortages. At that time, AstraZeneca's vaccine was just one of several products available amid the crisis.
Like the Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, AstraZeneca's vaccine has gone through the testing steps according to the protocol. However, the possibility of adverse events such as thrombosis was publicly mentioned in February 2021. On March 18, the British government and the country's authorities issued a statement about continued use. The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization (WHO) have both emphasized that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh any potential risks.
According to CNN, AstraZeneca's vaccine was also a "victim" of misinformation in Germany in January 2021, with information that the vaccine was only "8% effective in the elderly". This information is repeated many times, but the truth is that the 8% number refers to the proportion of people over 65 years old participating in a related study, not to the level of effectiveness.
AstraZeneca overcame the above obstacles and sold nearly $4 billion of Vaxzevria worldwide in 2021, before sales tapered off to $12 million last year.
Vaxzevria has come under close scrutiny in recent months for a very rare side effect , which causes blood clots with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). AstraZeneca admitted in court documents filed in February that the vaccine "in very rare circumstances may cause TTS". TTS is believed to be involved in at least 81 deaths in the UK. In March 2023, The BMJ reported that about 75 litigants had begun proceedings to sue for compensation for rare side effects from AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine.
In the latest developments, The Times of India reported on May 12 that parents of 8 Indian children in the areas of Kerala, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kapurthala said they would sue the Serum Institute of India (SII). and the agency in charge of Covid-19 vaccination. They believe their children died from side effects of the Covishield vaccine, the name of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine produced by SII.
When asked about the lawsuits, an AstraZeneca spokesman maintained: "The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has consistently demonstrated acceptable safety."
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper