AstraZeneca withdraws COVID vaccine from European market | Global News

Pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine to be withdrawn, according to the EU medicines regulator. The approval for AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria has been pulled “at the request of the marketing authorization holder,” as stated on the European Medicines Agency’s website.

Initially approved in January 2021, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine faced safety concerns when several countries suspended its use due to rare blood clots detected in some vaccinated individuals. While the EU regulator determined that the overall risk of clots was not increased by the vaccine, doubts persisted.

Issues with the vaccine’s trial data, including a manufacturing error and limited information on its efficacy in older populations, led to further skepticism. As a result, many countries shifted to using mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which were found to offer better protection against COVID-19 variants.

Despite being distributed to poorer countries through a U.N.-coordinated program due to its affordability and ease of production, the AstraZeneca vaccine has fallen out of favor globally. Even the UK, which heavily relied on the vaccine for its immunization program, has turned to mRNA vaccines for booster shots.

The decision to withdraw the European authorization for the AstraZeneca vaccine marks a significant development in the ongoing battle against COVID-19, highlighting the evolving landscape of vaccine distribution and efficacy.