Covishield unsafe? AstraZeneca admits its COVID-19 vaccine can cause blood clotting and reduce platelet count – Healthcare News
In a shocking development, British drugmaker AstraZeneca has admitted that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause a rare side effect. According to a report by The Telegraph, the vaccine can lead to a rare condition that can lead to blood clots and low platelet count.
Reportedly, the vaccine-maker has made this statement in court documents which can pave way for a multi-million-pound legal payout.
The British pharma giant is being sued in a class action over claims that its vaccine against COVID-19, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury, including -Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) — which causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count.
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After the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, AstraZeneca, in collaboration with The University of Oxford, had developed AZD1222 vaccine. In India and other low-and-middle-income countries, it was manufactured and supplied under the name “Covishield” by Serum Institute of India (SII) through a licence from the university and the Swedish-British drugmaker.
According to The Telegraph, while it is contesting the claims, AstraZeneca admitted in a legal document submitted to the High Court in February, that its Covid vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.
According to media reports, the lawyers claim the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is “defective” and that its efficacy has been “vastly overstated.” AstraZeneca has strongly denied these claims.
The Telegraph report stated that 51 cases have been lodged in the High Court, with victims and grieving relatives seeking damages estimated to be worth up to £100 million.
In 2023, the first case was lodged by Jamie Scott, who was left with a permanent brain injury after developing a blood clot and a bleed on the brain, since April 2021 when he received the vaccine.
In a letter of response sent in May 2023, AstraZeneca had told lawyers who stood for Mr Scott that “we do not accept that TTS is caused by the vaccine at a generic level”.
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