AstraZeneca has admitted for the first time that its Covid vaccine may cause a side effect known as thrombosis syndrome with thrombocytopenia. Although “in very rare cases,” the syndrome causes blood clots and a low number of platelets in the blood.
The admission by the pharmaceutical giant came as part of a lawsuit in Britain. AstraZeneca’s admission that it is not possible to determine the causal mechanism that would lead to TTS follows an intense legal debate and could lead to millions in compensation. The British government had pledged to underwrite AstraZeneca’s legal costs.
The £100million compensation claim
Currently, there are fifty-one cases filed in the British High Court, the victims and their families are asking for compensation in excess of 100 million pounds. The first case was filed last year by father-of-two Jamie Scott, who, after receiving the vaccine in April 2021, suffered a permanent brain injury after developing a blood clot and haemorrhage on the brain which prevented him from working. AstraZeneca has been sued in a class action lawsuit alleging that its vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. The admitted side effect is known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.
