Astrazeneca Admits Its COVID-19 Vaccine Causes Side Effects, Including Blood Clots
AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company behind developing Covishield vaccine against COVID-19, admitted for the first time in court documents that its vaccine can cause rare side effects, including fatal blood clots and low platelet count.
A lawsuit filed against the company in the UK, which sought damages nearing £100 million for around 50 victims, has claimed that Covishield led to deaths and severe injuries.
“It is admitted that the [AstraZeneca] vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known,” the company said in the court documents in February, the Telegraph reported.
Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome is a condition marked by formation of blood clots and a low blood platelet count in the bloodstream.
“Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the [AstraZeneca] vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence,” it added.
One of the victims alleged that he developed a blood clot because of the vaccine, which led to permanent brain damage and prevented him from continuing to work.
The vaccine was administered to prevent against COVID-19 in more than 150 countries, including India and the UK.
Covishield was developed by AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University in the UK and produced by the Serum Institute of India.
The World Health Organization also previously said that Covishield can have such side effects.
“A very rare adverse event called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, involving unusual and severe blood clotting events associated with low platelet counts, has been reported after vaccination with this vaccine,” the Independent reported on Tuesday.
However, the WHO had added that the benefit of vaccination in preventing COVID-19 infections “far outweigh the risks.”
