The Telegraph: AstraZeneca withdrawing Covid vaccine amid lawsuit

The UK's AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company is withdrawing approval for the sale and use of its vaccine against COVID-19 worldwide amid a lawsuit by victims of rare side effects from this vaccine, The Telegraph reported.

The company explains the move solely for commercial reasons, due to the fact that the drug has ceased to be in demand.

According to the decision made by the company on March 5, as of May 7, the Vaxzevria vaccine will no longer be sold in the UK, as well as in other countries. The company stated that they are no longer producing and selling their vaccine, which has been pushed out of the market by drugs that are more effective and can protect against new types of the coronavirus.

"We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally," the company said in a statement.

"As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.," it added.

Since last year, a class-action lawsuit against AstraZeneca by relatives of people who died or were severely injured after being vaccinated against the coronavirus has been pending in a UK court. The first person to go to court was Jamie Scott, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in April 2021 due to the formation of a blood clot after vaccination, which led to irreversible damage, but doctors managed to save his life.

According to representatives of law firms, the number of claimants may reach several hundred people, which threatens the company with multi-million losses.

In documents submitted to the court, the company admitted that the use of the vaccine very rarely can cause thrombosis, a symptom of thrombocytopenia.

The company argued that the cause-and-effect mechanism of this phenomenon is not yet clear, and thrombosis can occur regardless of receiving AstraZeneca or any other vaccine.

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