AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it began to withdraw its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide due to a "surplus of available updated vaccines" since the pandemic. The company also stated that it would proceed to withdraw Vaxzevria's marketing authorisations for the vaccine within Europe.
The company said, "As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines," as quoted by news agency Reuters. It further stated that this had led to a reduction in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.
AstraZeneca, the drugmaker, has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts, as per media reports.
According to the Telegraph, the company’s application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7.
Last year, the drugmaker began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals following a slowdown in growth as Covid-19 medicine sales saw a decline.