AstraZeneca says it is withdrawing Vaxzevria, its vaccine to protect against COVID-19, from global markets. More than three billion doses of the vaccine have been supplied since it first was administered in the United Kingdom in January 2021. WATCH | AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine pulled:Vaccine complications explained Duration 0:41 Dr. Samir Gupta on science working as it should with AstraZeneca's COVID vaccineDr. Samir Gupta, a respirologist at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said what's important is that the creation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, testing, roll out, discovery of complications and stopping of vaccine distribution played out as it should for a new pandemic virus. According to media reports, AstraZeneca previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine can cause rare side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts. The Serum Institute of India (SII), which produced AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine under the brand name Covishield, stopped manufacturing and supply of the doses since December 2021, an SII spokesperson said.

Source: CBC News May 09, 2024 15:14 UTC