Astrazeneca vaccine yes, Astrazeneca vaccine no, Astrazeneca vaccine withdrawn. What is happening to the Anglo-Swedish giant’s anti-Covid product? The indiscretion leaks onto the front page of today’s edition of the newspaper The truth: “In almost general silence, the pharmaceutical company requested and obtained the revocation of the authorization to market the vaccine called Vaxzevria. He submitted his application on 5 March 2024 and the European Commission granted the revocation on 27 March.” A few hours later, a clarification arrives from those directly involved, confirming the withdrawal, essentially explaining that it is no longer needed. “Considering the quantity of available and effective vaccines for the new variants of Covid-19, there was no longer any demand for the Vaxzevria vaccine, which consequently was no longer produced or distributed”, the company tells Adnkronos, explaining that “not foreseeing future demand” for the product, it was “decided to withdraw the marketing authorization within the European Union”.
In recent days, the topic of the safety of the anti-Covid vaccine had come back into vogue, in particular the one developed by Astrazeneca. The company had for the first time confirmed the possible relationship “in very rare cases” between its vaccine, the first approved in the United Kingdom and Europe during the pandemic, and thrombosis syndrome with thrombocytopenia (Tts) as a “side effect “. However, the company has denied legal responsibility, taking refuge both behind the warnings in the information leaflet and behind the protections guaranteed by the British government in the context of the Covid emergency. It all comes as the UK High Court is examining complaints against the Anglo-Swedish giant by victims of adverse events from the Vaxzevria vaccine, brought together in a potentially million-dollar class action. Just yesterday, the Daily Telegraph reports, the lawyers of a first nucleus of the fifty-one families announced that they would renounce pursuing the request for compensation for damages against Astrazeneca, faced with the concrete prospect of having their appeals rejected and having to bear heavy costs legal. The families however defended their reasons, rejecting the label of “conspiracy theorists” and saying they were saddened that they had to give up due to the “technical quibbles” with which both the company and the government could have shielded themselves. They then insisted on the request for transparency and highlighting the legitimacy of the legal battle that other citizens are carrying out, even outside the United Kingdom.
The truth states that, with the revocation of the marketing of the vaccine, “Astrazeneca will no longer be obliged to present the results of that study which could have given even more worrying answers on the frequency of Tts in those vaccinated with its drug. He told those affected: ‘Patient safety is our top priority and regulators have clear and rigorous standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.’”
The side effects of anti-Covid vaccines are still being studied, “you can read about them in scientific journals and you can easily talk about them”, recalls Antonio Cassone, immunologist and member of the American Academy of Microbiology, on the pages of Republic. In fact, the expert explains that “vaccines are drugs and like all drugs they have side effects which are also rightly called unwanted”, but it is important to remember “what they are, what they protect us from and how the benefit we derive from them as a community is always far greater than the few risks that some run.”
The immunologist cites a global study on 250 million doses administered in around ten countries in Europe (Italy is not present), Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand which aimed to establish which pathological events were most frequent within 42 days from the vaccination dose received (up to the fourth dose) compared to the frequency of the same events in the unvaccinated population. The data highlight five pathologies that occurred more frequently than expected: “Two in the neurological area (Guillain-Barrè syndrome, a treatable neuropathy, after the first dose of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, and one acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, one severe brain inflammation, at the third dose of the Moderna vaccine), two in the cardiological area, already very well known and established side effects, such as myocarditis (especially after the second dose of the Moderna vaccine), and pericarditis, after the first dose of the vaccine Astra Zeneca, and finally one in the hematological field, also well known, thrombosis of the cerebral venous sinus, after the first dose of the same vaccine”, writes the expert. Other pathologies have been reported but with too low frequency to establish their incidence with certainty. In short, “there is no need for commissions of inquiry, scientific studies are enough. And compensation to those who have had adverse effects caused by the vaccine. Remembering that they saved millions of lives”, concludes Cassone.
