The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has decided to globally withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine, citing a rare and dangerous side effect associated with the jab.
The news was first reported by The Telegraph, which confirmed that the company had voluntarily withdrawn its "marketing authorisation," meaning it will no longer be available for purchase.
The paper reported:
The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide, months after the pharmaceutical giant admitted for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect.The vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union, after the company voluntarily withdrew its "marketing authorisation". The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on Tuesday. Similar applications will be made in the coming months in the UK and in other countries that had approved the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria.
The decision to withdraw it brings to an end the use of the jab, which was heralded by Boris Johnson as a "triumph for British science" and credited with saving more than six million lives. AstraZeneca said the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons. It said the vaccine was no longer being manufactured or supplied, having been superseded by updated vaccines that tackle new variants.
AstraZeneca has come under intense scrutiny over recent months over evidence that their version of the COVID-19 vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, has caused dozens of cases of Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), leading to at least 81 deaths. Around 50 victims and grieving relatives are also suing the company as a result.
Oh, thrombosis? You mean arterial thrombosis? Clots inside blood vessels that cause heart attacks and deaths?
Including in young people, who of course are rarely victims of heart attacks?
Are those the sort of thromboses you mean?
Thrombosis is a blood clot within blood vessels that limits the flow of blood. Acute venous and arterial thromboses are the most common cause of death in developed countries. The mortality rate varies with the location and acuity of thrombosis. Myocardial infarctions and cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) account for the highest proportion of thrombosis-associated deaths in the United States.