‘Commercial reasons’: AstraZeneca withdraws Covid vaccine from sale worldwide, weeks after report on rare side effects

Stockholm: Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is recalling its COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria, among others, from sale worldwide, the local newspaper reported, citing the company.

The application for the vaccine's withdrawal from the European Union was submitted on March 5 and entered into effect on Tuesday, with similar applications expected to be filed in the coming months in the United Kingdom and in other countries where it had been approved, the newspaper wrote on Tuesday.

"We will partner with regulatory authorities globally to initiate marketing authorization withdrawals for Vaxzevria, where no future commercial demand for the vaccine is expected," the company was quoted as saying in a statement.

The company said the move was due to commercial reasons, adding that there are plenty of vaccines on the market aimed at fighting new COVID-19 strains. At the same time, it insisted that the decision for the withdrawal was not linked with the recent court case over vaccine side effects, the newspaper added.

In April, reports emerged that AstraZeneca acknowledged for the first time in a legal document submitted to a UK court in February that the vaccine could trigger a rare side effect—thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts.