AstraZeneca starts global withdrawal of COVID-19 vaccine

May 8 : UK-based pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca has started global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, which was provided in India as ‘Covishield’ in partnership with Serum Institute of India, days after it admitted to rare side effects of blood clotting and low platelet counts.

The withdrawal has been initiated due to a surplus of available updated vaccines since the pandemic, the company said in a statement.

AstraZeneca had partnered with Oxford University to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, which was sold in India as Covishield and as Vaxzevria in Europe.

The European Medicines Agency, the medicines regulator for the European Union (EU), issued a notice on Tuesday to confirm that Vaxzevria – known as Covishield in India – is no longer authorised for use in the 27-member economic bloc after AstraZeneca (AZ) voluntarily withdrew its authorisation in March.

It said it will similarly work with regulatory authorities worldwide to initiate marketing authorisation withdrawals for Vaxzevria as demand has been overtaken by the evolving nature of coronaviruses.

AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate withdrawal of the marketing authorisations for Vaxzevria within Europe. 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,” it said.