AstraZeneca, the UK-headquartered pharmaceutical giant, on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to patient safety amid concerns around potential rare side effects of its COVID-19 vaccine. The company spokesperson also mentioned that regulatory authorities in every country have clear and strict standards to ensure safe use of medicines including vaccines.
"Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. Patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines," a spokesperson of AstraZeneca told news agency ANI.
The admission came a day after the pharma giant admitted in a UK court that its COVID-19 vaccine sold globally as Covishield and Vaxzevria may cause Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) in "very rare cases". This condition leads to the formation of blood clots and lowered platelet count, the vaccine maker told the court.
In the UK, AstraZeneca is facing a class action lawsuit over claims on behalf of around 75 people that its anti-coronavirus vaccine led to deaths and severe injuries in several cases. Some claimants have lost relatives whereas others have survived but have severe injuries due to blood clots. Other complications reported by claimants due to AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine are stroke, heart failure and leg amputations.
In India, the Vaxzevria vaccine of AstraZeneca was produced by Adar Poonawalla-led Serum Institute of India (SII) and marketed as Covishield. The SII developed Covishield vaccine using a viral vector platform instead of mRNA technology.
The Covishield vaccine uses a modern chimpanzee adenovirus-- ChAdOx1-- to transport the COVID-10 spike protein into human cells. While this virus cannot infect the recipient of the vaccine, it can effectively teach the immune system to of the recipient to defend itself against similar viruses.
Moreover, the AstraZeneca vaccine is not administered anymore in the UK on the back of safety concerns. In 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its report that Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) was a new adverse event after COVID-19 vaccination in individuals using non-replicant adenovirus vector-based vaccines.
"TTS is a serious and life-threatening adverse event. WHO has issued this interim emergency guidance to increase awareness about TTS in the context of Covid-19 vaccination and help healthcare providers in the assessment and management of potential TTS cases," the 2023 statement by WHO read.