AstraZeneca plans to withdraw its Covid-19 vaccine from the European market

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca plans to revoke the license for its Covid-19 vaccine in Europe, according to the European Union's drug watchdog. AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine was first approved by the EMA in January 2021. However, within weeks, concerns about the vaccine's safety grew. Dozens of countries have suspended use of the vaccine after an unusual but rare blood clot developed following its use.

Billions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were distributed to poorer countries through a UN-coordinated program because it was cheaper and easier to produce and distribute.

But studies later showed that more expensive RNA vaccines made by Pfizer-Biontech and Moderna offered better protection against Covid-19 and its variants, and more countries switched to those vaccines.

The UK's national coronavirus immunization program in 2021 relied heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed largely by Oxford University scientists with significant government funding.

But even Britain later resorted to buying mRNA vaccines for its covid vaccination programs, and the AstraZeneca vaccine is now rarely used globally.

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