AstraZeneca Confirms Vaccine Safety Amidst Rare Side Effect Concerns

The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has  affirmed the vaccine’s overall safety record and reiterated its commitment to patient safety in response to recent worries over rare adverse effects of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccination.

“Our condolences are with those who have suffered losses or reported health issues,” said an AstraZeneca representative. Our first concern is always patient safety, and regulatory bodies enforce strict guidelines to guarantee the appropriate use of all drugs, including vaccinations.”

This news comes after AstraZeneca recently admitted that Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) “may, in very rare cases, caused by Covid vaccines,” specifically Covishield and Vaxzevria.

Despite these isolated incidents, the pharmaceutical company affirms that extensive clinical trial data and real-world evidence consistently support the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. Global regulatory agencies continue to assert that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of such extremely rare side effects.

According to various UK media outlets, AstraZeneca made this acknowledgment in court documents related to cases alleging serious injury and death caused by the vaccine.

The Serum Institute of India produced the COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield without utilizing the mRNA platform; instead, it was prepared using the viral vector platform. The vaccine incorporates a modified chimpanzee adenovirus – ChAdOx1 – to transport the COVID-19 spike protein into human cells. Although this cold virus is unable to infect the recipient, it can effectively train the immune system to defend against such viruses. This technology was also employed in developing vaccines for diseases like Ebola.

Notably, in 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) emerged as a new adverse event following immunization in individuals vaccinated with COVID-19 non-replicant adenovirus vector-based vaccines, including the AstraZeneca COVID-19 ChAdOx-1 vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Janssen COVID-19 Ad26.COV2-S vaccines.

“TTS is a serious and life-threatening adverse event. WHO has issued this interim emergency guidance to increase awareness about TTS in the context of COVID-19 vaccination and help healthcare providers in the assessment and management of potential TTS cases,” stated the WHO’s 2023 report.

However, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stated in March 2024, during ‘ANI Dialogues – Navigating India’s health sector,’ that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted an extensive study indicating that the COVID-19 vaccine is not linked to heart attacks. Lifestyle factors such as binge drinking could be among the underlying causes.

Mandaviya emphasized, “If someone suffers a stroke today, they attribute it to the Covid vaccine. ICMR’s detailed study confirms that the vaccine is not linked to heart attacks.”