British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has initiated a global withdrawal of its COVID vaccine, following months after it publicly acknowledged, for the first time in court documents, a rare and potentially dangerous side effect, as reported by The Telegraph.
The application for withdrawal was submitted on March 5 and officially took effect on Tuesday, according to the report.
The vaccine, a collaboration between AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under the name Covishield.
Reasons for Withdrawal:
AstraZeneca has attributed the withdrawal to commercial considerations. The company voluntarily revoked its “marketing authorization” in the European Union, clarifying that the vaccine is no longer in production and should not be administered. The decision was prompted by the availability of updated vaccines in surplus.
Court Document Admission:
Facing a £100 million lawsuit in the UK, AstraZeneca’s admission in court documents regarding a rare side effect linked to the vaccine has garnered attention. In one such document from February, the company acknowledged that its vaccines could, “in very rare cases, cause TTS or Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.”
Understanding TTS:
Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) is a rare yet severe condition marked by blood clot formation alongside low platelet levels in the bloodstream. It has primarily been associated with specific COVID-19 vaccines, notably adenovirus vector vaccines like AstraZeneca’s and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.
TTS usually presents within days to weeks post-vaccination, with symptoms including intense headache, abdominal pain, limb swelling, breathlessness, and neurological manifestations. These indicators may signify blood clot formation in critical areas such as the brain, abdomen, or lungs.
The precise cause of TTS remains incompletely understood, though it is presumed to involve an immune response triggered by the vaccine, resulting in abnormal clotting and platelet destruction. Diagnosis entails clinical assessment, imaging studies for clot detection, and laboratory tests to confirm diminished platelet counts.
Treatment for TTS often necessitates hospitalization and specialized intervention, including anticoagulant therapy to deter further clotting and intravenous immunoglobulin to stabilize platelet levels. Timely identification and management are imperative to avert severe complications like organ damage or fatalities linked to TTS.
