AstraZeneca Admits Its Covishield Vaccine Can Cause Rare Side Effects: Here's What They Are

British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has acknowledged that its Covid vaccine, Covishield, can lead to a rare side effect.

According to court documents, the vaccine can cause a condition resulting in blood clots and a low platelet count, although this occurrence is rare.

Covishield, a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University during the Covid-19 pandemic, was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and extensively distributed in the country.

AstraZeneca is currently embroiled in a class-action lawsuit in the UK, with claimants asserting that the vaccine led to deaths and severe injuries in multiple instances.

In the UK High Court, 51 cases are seeking damages of up to £100 million.

The first complainant in the case, Jamie Scott, alleged that after receiving the vaccine in April 2021, he suffered a permanent brain injury due to a blood clot, rendering him unable to work and the hospital even told his wife thrice that he's going to die.

AstraZeneca has refuted these claims but did concede in a court document from February that Covishield can, in extremely rare circumstances, induce Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), which manifests as blood clots and low platelet count.

"It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known...Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence," AstraZeneca said, NDTV reported.

The admission made by AstraZeneca forms part of its legal defence in Scott's case, potentially leading to compensation for victims and their families.

Notably, this admission contrasts with the company's previous stance in 2023 when it denied that TTS was linked to the vaccine on a generic level.

However, AstraZeneca has denied the lawyers' claims that the vaccine is "defective" and its efficacy "vastly overstated".

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