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On March 27, 2024 the European Commission withdrew, at the request of AstraZeneca, the marketing authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company. The withdrawal takes effect on May 7. The reason, as reported by AstraZeneca to Maldita.es, is the development of “multiple updated vaccines for COVID-19 variants,” which has caused “a surplus of available vaccines.” In the European Union eight vaccines were authorizedincluding that of AstraZeneca.
For this reason, there has been “a decrease in demand from Vaxzervria (the name of the vaccine), which is no longer manufactured or supplied”. AstraZeneca requested the suspension on March 7, 2024.
AstraZeneca’s response to Maldita.es
Vaxzevria’s effectiveness is lower than other COVID-19 vaccines: around 60% once morest the first variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus when the Pfizer demonstrated 95% efficacy In clinical trials, the 94.1% modernat from Novavax a 90.4% and the Janssen un 67%. Instead, the Hipra vaccine generated higher levels of antibodies once morest the beta and omicron variants and similar levels once morest the delta variant of the coronavirus than the Pfizer vaccine.
From the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) they affirm Maldita.es that it was the pharmaceutical company itself that has requested the withdrawal of the vaccine at the European level, without it being necessary to justify this decision. “It is not an exceptional thing. Enter normality. It happens when it is no longer of interest to the company for whatever reason,” they point out from the AEMPS. The European Commission confirms Maldita.es that the withdrawal has been at the request of the pharmaceutical company, and they add that “It is not uncommon for companies to request the withdrawal of marketing authorizations for medicines or vaccines for commercial reasons.. This might be the case, for example, if there is no longer demand for a product in the European Union.”
It had already happened before with two other vaccines once morest COVID-19. To the vaccine Valneva Its marketing authorization was withdrawn on December 1, 2023 following the pharmaceutical company requested it on September 28, 2023. He did so more than a year following the European Commission announced its intention to terminate the vaccine purchase agreement. Subsequently, on March 18, 2024, the vaccine once morest COVID-19 Sanofi Pasteur Its marketing authorization in the European Union was also withdrawn due to manufacturer request on January 18, 2024.
The pharmaceutical company requested it before content was published that AstraZeneca had admitted for the first time that its Covid vaccine “may cause a rare side effect”
As AstraZeneca requested this suspension on March 7, 2024, it is before The Telegraph published on April 27 that ‘AstraZeneca admits for the first time that its Covid vaccine may cause a rare side effect‘. In reality, this possible “very rare” side effect of the vaccine, thrombosis syndrome with thrombocytopenia, has been known since April 2021 and this information became known on October 31, 2022, when the conditional marketing authorization for Vaxzevria became in standard marketing authorization in the European Union.
