The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca says it has initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” since the pandemic.
The company also said it would withdraw the marketing authorisations for the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, in Europe.
“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines,” the company said on Tuesday, adding that this had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.
Any surplus supplies remaining in inventories worldwide will be withdrawn, it said.
The decision coincides with renewed public concern about Covid vaccine side-effects, following revelations that blood clots had been reported within a short time after AstraZeneca vaccination.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has previously admitted in court documents in the UK that the vaccine causes side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
Thai public health authorities said such cases were very rare, and that all cases reported showed up within six weeks or less of inoculation.
During the pandemic, 48 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were administered to about 20 million recipients in Thailand, with the latest shots given in March last year.
Twenty-three people in the country were reported to have experienced blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccination, with seven confirmed to have been linked to the vaccine. Two of the confirmed cases died.
AstraZeneca’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.
London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals last year after a slowdown in growth as sales of Covid-19 medicine declined.
In 2021, local biotechnology firm Siam Bioscience Co was contracted to manufacture the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand.