AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine Covishield (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
2 min read Last Updated : Apr 30 2024 | 12:10 AM IST
AstraZeneca has admitted for the first time in court documents that its Covid-19 vaccine, sold globally under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, may lead to a rare side-effect. According to media reports, the admission was made in a legal document submitted to the UK High Court in February.
The company stated in the document that a rare side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) can happen even if there is no vaccination, adding that expert testimony will be required to determine causation in every individual case. It said, “It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known.”
Developed in collaboration with University of Oxford, AstraZeneca’s vaccine was manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII). As many as 1,749,417,978 doses of Covishield vaccine have been administered in India, in what was the world’s largest vaccination programme from January 2021, according to the vaccine dashboard of the government’s web portal CoWIN (as of 10:30 pm April 29, 2024).
The Cambridge-headquartered British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company now faces a class-action lawsuit, which claims that its vaccine caused serious injuries and fatalities.
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According to media reports, several families filed complaints in court alleging that the AstraZeneca vaccine’s side-effects have had devastating effects.
The lawsuit was started last year by Jamie Scott, a father of two, who suffered a permanent brain injury by TTS after being administered the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021.
Scott’s case, along with many others’, reveals the severe impact of TTS, which leads to blood clots and low platelet counts.
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Speaking to The Telegraph Scott’s wife Kate said, “The medical world has acknowledged for a long time that vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) was caused by the vaccine.”
Kate has demanded an apology, fair compensation for their family and other families who have been affected.
AstraZeneca’s admission is seen as a key moment in the ongoing legal dispute, underscoring potential risks linked to vaccination.
First Published: Apr 29 2024 | 10:31 PM IST
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