AstraZeneca says it will withdraw COVID-19 vaccine globally

New Delhi: The vaccine most consumed in India, will soon disappear from the drug shelves of the country as AstraZeneca on Tuesday announced it had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID 19 vaccine due to a ''surplus of available updated vaccines'' since the pandemic.

The UK-based pharmaceutical company in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, had made available the Covishield vaccine to the Indian population .

AstraZeneca, which partnered with the University of Oxford to develop the vaccine, is now facing a lawsuit alleging that the vaccine resulted in deaths and serious injuries to recipients.

The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria's marketing authorizations within Europe.

"As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines," the company said, adding that this had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.

The firm's application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7, according to the Telegraph, which first reported the development.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the pharmaceutical giant is being sued in a class action in UK over claims that its vaccine against Covid-19, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury, including TTS — Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome — which causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count. In India as well, a plea was submitted to the Supreme Court last week , urging the establishment of a medical expert panel overseen by a retired apex court judge. This panel would be tasked with assessing potential side effects and risk factors associated with the Covishield vaccine.

London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals last year after a slowdown in growth as COVID-19 medicine sales declined.