Following AstraZeneca’s withdrawal of it’s Covid-19 vaccine worldwide, Chairman of the Jamaica Coalition of a Healthy Society, Dr Wayne West said the authoritarian approach to the management of the pandemic by many governments and the manipulation of information has resulted in a lost of trust.
The medical doctor says there is now a lost of trust in both governments and the medical profession.
“Despite the official narrative carried by the mainstream media that COVID-19 vaccines were “safe and effective” , the public knew, through social media, that the vaccines were known to have risks, including the risk of death, and to be relatively ineffective,” he said.
AstraZeneca announced the withdrawal its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide on Tuesday, months after the pharma giant admitted the drug could cause very rare, but life-threatening, injuries.
The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield. The vaccine maker has said the worldwide withdrawal was initiated because of commercial reasons due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” for COVID-19. The vaccine is produced under the brand name Covishield and Vaxzevria.
The vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union after the company voluntarily withdrew its “marketing authorisation”. The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on Tuesday. Similar applications will be made in the coming months in the UK and in other countries that had approved Vaxzevria.
Vaxzevria has come under intense scrutiny in recent months over a very rare side effect, which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts. AstraZeneca admitted in court documents lodged with the High Court in February that the vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.
According to the Telegraph, TTS – which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome – has been linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK as well as hundreds of serious injuries. AstraZeneca is being sued by more than 50 alleged victims and grieving relatives in a High Court case.
AstraZeneca admitted in one of the court documents in February that the vaccine can “in very rare cases, cause TTS or Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome”. However, the vaccine maker has denied that the decision to withdraw it is linked to the court case.
The Covid jab was widely administered in over 150 countries, including Britain and throughout the EU. Some studies conducted during the pandemic found the vaccine was 60 to 80 per cent effective in protecting against Covid.
Some Families whose loved ones died after taking the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine had abandoned attempts to sue the pharmaceutical giant after being told that they were likely to lose. The World Health Organisation had said the vaccine was “safe and effective for all individuals aged 18 and above” and the adverse effect that has prompted the legal action was “very rare”.
