AstraZeneca has withdrawn its Covid-19 vaccine from the market due to a “surplus” of new jabs that can target new variants of the virus.
The pharmaceutical giant said the availability of vaccines that were more effective against new strains of the virus had led to a decline in demand for the original jab.
Countries including Australia have already stopped supplying the vaccine, which was phased out of mass immunisation programmes from June 2021 as alternative jabs became available.
New variants of the virus, such as Omicron and Delta, have forced vaccine manufacturers to tweak their jabs to retain their effectiveness.
“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,” AstraZeneca said.
“Our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic. We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The firm’s application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and it came into effect on Tuesday, according to the Telegraph.
The announcement comes months after AstraZeneca admitted in court documents that the vaccine can cause rare and dangerous side effects including blood clots and low platelet counts.
Legal action is currently being taken against AstraZeneca by the families of 19 people who died after being vaccinated, as well as 54 patients who suffered severe reactions but survived.
Last week the Telegraph reported that 12 families dropped their cases against the pharmaceutical company after being told they would likely lose.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that the vaccine could have fatal but extremely rare side effects.
“A very rare adverse event called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, involving unusual and severe blood clotting events associated with low platelet counts, has been reported after vaccination with this vaccine,” they said.
However, the WHO has said that the benefits of vaccination in preventing severe Covid “far outweigh the risks”.
The Government’s vaccine damage payment scheme entitles people who suffer adverse reactions that lead to death or a 60 per cent disability a one-off payment of £120,000.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed in collaboration with Oxford University and produced by the Serum Institute of India. It is widely credited with saving millions of lives, particularly in developing countries.
Studies conducted during the pandemic found that the jab was 60 to 80 per cent effective at preventing severe disease.
