Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – AstraZeneca, the company that produces the Covid-19 vaccine under the Covishield brand, admits that its product can cause rare side effects. Including blood clots and low platelet counts.
Reporting from The Independent, Covishield is a brand of Covid-19 vaccine developed by a British-Swedish company in collaboration with Oxford University, England and produced by the Serum Institute of India.
A number of studies during the pandemic showed that Covishield was 60 to 80% effective in protecting vaccine recipients against the new type of coronavirus. However, several studies have found that Covishield can cause the risk of blood clots which can be fatal.
A class action lawsuit filed in England claims that the Covishield vaccine can cause death and serious injury, and asks for compensation of up to 100 million pounds sterling or around IDR 2.01 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 20,177/pound sterling) for around 50 victims.
One of the plaintiffs reportedly accused the vaccine of causing permanent brain injuries suffered after blood clots. As a result of this injury, the plaintiff admitted that he could no longer work.
Although AstraZeneca has denied this claim, it has admitted, “in very rare cases it can cause TTS or Thrombosis Syndrome with Thrombocytopenia which is characterized by blood clotting and low blood platelets in humans”. This was revealed in one of the court documents.
“It is recognized that the AZ vaccine, in very rare cases, can cause TTS. The causal mechanism is unknown,” AstraZeneca said in court documents in February, quoted from The Telegraph report, quoted Saturday (4/5/2024).
“Furthermore, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). The cause in each case will depend on expert evidence,” the document continues.
AstraZeneca's latest admission reportedly contradicts the company's 2023 insistence that it “will not accept that TTS is caused by the vaccine at a generic level”.
WHO Statement
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that Covishield can cause life-threatening side effects.
“A very rare side effect called Thrombosis Syndrome with Thrombocytopenia, involving unusual and severe blood clotting events associated with low platelet counts, has been reported following vaccination with this vaccine,” WHO said.
According to the Council of International Medical Sciences Organizations, “very rare” side effects have been reported in less than 1 in 10,000 cases.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
Next Article
WHO predicts cancer cases will increase by 77%, death rate will double
(dce)