LONDON – The AstraZeneca vaccine saved more than six million lives worldwide in the first year of its distribution during the Covid pandemic. Now, for the first time, the British pharmaceutical company has acknowledged in court that its drug can cause a very rare side effect, with potentially fatal complications.
The legal case
At least 81 UK citizens have died from blood clots that appear linked to the vaccine in question and several dozen families have sued the Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company claiming that their relatives have lost their lives or suffered ailments due to the serum and seeking compensation totaling £100 million. At the trial underway in London, Astrazeneca’s lawyers admitted that such a development was indeed possible.
The rare cases
It’s not the first time they’ve said it. Information on the AstraZeneca vaccine was publicly updated in April 2021, with authorization from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to administer it as well, including the possibility that, in very rare cases, was capable of triggering thrombosis with thrombocytopenic syndrome.
First time in a court of justice
The claim that emerged this week stands out only because it occurred in a court of law. Initially, however, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company refused to accept that the syndrome could be triggered by the vaccine. Now he admits it, but underlining that, apart from the extreme rarity of the cases, the syndrome can develop even in the absence of the vaccine and that its cause must be evaluated by experts individually, on a case-by-case basis.
One case in ten thousand
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that the AstraZeneca vaccine can have potentially fatal side effects “in very rare cases”, a definition which, according to the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences, means 1 in 10 thousand. “In countries affected by the pandemic”, the WHO observes in this regard, “the benefits of vaccination in protecting against Covid far outweigh the risks”.
