On Tuesday, British-Swedish pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca announced that it is withdrawing all of its COVID-19 vaccines globally, as demand has dipped because of the “surplus of available updated vaccines” since the pandemic.
The company described the decision as a “commercial decision.” Over three billion doses of the vaccine have been administered since its inception in November 2020.
The news comes months after the company admitted for the first time in court documents that the vaccine can cause side effects. In an ongoing UK case, AstraZeneca is being sued, with 51 claims cases against the company stating the vaccine caused death and injury, The Telegraph reported.
In a legal document received by the High Court in February, AstraZeneca admitted that the vaccine “can cause in very rare cases” Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), which can lead to blood clots.
However, the pharmaceutical company rejected claims that clotting side effects occur on a “generic level.” In addition, AstraZeneca reiterated that TTS can occur without the vaccine or any vaccine.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said: “According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone.”
In the UK court case, the claimants against AstraZeneca are seeking up to 100 million pounds in damages.
Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol, told the BBC: “I think the withdrawal of the vaccine simply reflects it is no longer useful.”
Finn added: “This virus is very agile and it has evolved away from the original vaccines, so they have in a sense become irrelevant and only the reformulated vaccines are likely to be used now.”