By Charlotte Webster-
AstraZeneca has initiated a global withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria,
All “monovalent” vaccines that deal with the original Covid strain are to be withdrawn, according to reports.
The announcement comes days after it was reported that the British pharmaceutical company admitted that the jab can cause rare side effects. The company cited a surplus of newly adapted vaccines tailored to combat evolving variants of the virus.
The decision comes following the pharmaceutical company’s voluntary withdrawal of its European Union marketing authorization in March, with the European Medicines Agency subsequently deauthorizing the vaccine for use on May 7.
The move highlights a shift in demand towards newer vaccines designed to address the mutating landscape of the Covid-19 virus. AstraZeneca emphasized the emergence of a variety of updated vaccines targeting Covid-19 variants as the rationale behind the decision.
The dwindling demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine, coupled with the availability of alternatives has led to the cessation of its production and supply.
According to AstraZeneca’s statement, the vaccine played a pivotal role in the global fight against the pandemic, with over 6.5 million lives estimated to have been saved in its first year of use, totalling over 3 billion doses supplied worldwide.
Despite its contribution, the company acknowledges the evolving nature of the pandemic and the need to adapt to newer vaccine formulations.
Vaxzevria, formerly known as the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, was authorized for individuals aged 18 and older, administered in two injections spaced approximately three months apart.
Utilizing a modified adenovirus, the vaccine delivers a protein from SARS-CoV-2 without containing the virus itself, thereby negating the risk of viral infection.
However, the vaccine was not without controversy. Reports of a rare but serious side-effect, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), raised concerns, occurring in approximately two to three individuals per 100,000 vaccinated with Vaxzevria.
Despite this, experts acknowledge its pivotal role in the early stages of the pandemic, providing crucial protection when vaccine options were limited.
Professor Catherine Bennett, Chair of Epidemiology at Deakin University, emphasized the vaccine’s significance in saving millions of lives during the initial phase of the pandemic.
However, she noted the importance of adapting to newer vaccine formulations targeting emerging variants of the virus.
The World Health Organization’s recent guidance underscores the need for Covid-19 vaccines to target specific virus lineages, reflecting the evolving nature of the pandemic.
One medic said on the condition of anonymity that :’As populations become increasingly vaccinated and protected against the virus, the risk calculus shifts, necessitating a dynamic approach to vaccine development and deployment.
‘AstraZeneca’s decision to withdraw Vaxzevria marks a significant development in the ongoing battle against Covid-19, highlighting the need for continual adaptation and innovation in vaccine strategies’.
The covid vaccine was controversial when first introduced to the UK. Reported side effects experienced by some vaccinated individuals raised alarm bells among the public, but experts were always quick to point out that it was a minority of people who had experienced such side effects.
Some reported experiencing serious bouts of fits on a temporary basis for some others, serious fits became a regular occurrence for them long after they were vaccinated.
Guidelines encouraging schools to allow pupils to be vaccinated if they felt the need to protect themselves, sparked uproar amongst parents who felt they should be able to make the overriding decision in those circumstances.
So urgent was the clamour to defeat the virus that opinions about how to manage some of the polarising perspectives on vaccination differed widely.
Vaccination became a requirement to travel into a number of countries, including The U.S France, Australia, and many others.
Those in favour viewed it as an absolute necessity, with those against voicing strong objections to the wider call for vaccination, often making reference to frightening extreme outcomes that had occurred in some cases which had been circulated around the net.
In the end, the residents of most countries of the world were eventually vaccinated, and unvaccinated individuals are now able to integrate freely without issue.
The climate surrounding the push for compulsory vaccination has now eased up, and it is now about adapting to new advanced forms of beating any new strains of the virus out there.