AstraZeneca vaccine discontinued in Australia
It’s the end of an era, ladies and gentlemen, for one of the most polarising biopharmaceutical release in memory.
The AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, linked to ‘very rare’ but serious side-effects, has been quietly discontinued from use in Australia.
The controversial jab has been phased out, with the government announcing the shelving in a page update this afternoon.
The Department of Health and Aged Care confirmed that from March 20, the vaccine, sold under the brand-name Vaxzevria, is no longer available to Australians:
Just over two years since this jab first hit our shores, it is now gone.
But is it gone for good?
A spokesperson added: “The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine remains provisionally approved by the TGA, however, the Sponsor (Oxford) made a commercial decision with respect to supply of AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia.”
So, it technically could come back, but given the serious damage done to its reputation.. it is highly unlikely.
The federal health department said the phasing out of the vaccine was due to the ‘availability of newer options’ and hit back at social media posts that suggested it was because of safety concerns.
They forget that even those who did get vaccinated decided not to get AstraZeneca after concerns of side effects arose.
Side effects that were known to be emerging across the world and were ignored by our government.
Australians chose Pfizer because they were concerned about the Oxford product, not simply because Pfizer was rolled out.
NEVER FORGET
AstraZeneca was the first jab to hit the market and it never recovered from its rocky start. Australians were spooked by changing advice about the readily-available vaccine following higher than expected cases of a ‘rare’ blood-clots.
This was a common scene witnessed in many countries across the world.
On 7 February 2021, the vaccine rollout in South Africa was suspended.
Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand released data that suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine provided minimal protection against mild or moderate disease infection among young people.
On 3 March 2021, Austria suspended the use after two people had blood clots after vaccination, one of whom died.
Several other countries, including Denmark, Iceland, Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Slovenia also halted the vaccine rollout while waiting for the EMA to finish a safety review triggered by the cases.
On 29 March 2021, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended that distribution of the vaccine be suspended for patients below the age of 55.
On 15 April 2021, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommended to the government to permanently suspend vaccination with AstraZeneca due to the “rare but severe incidents with low platelet counts, blood clots, and haemorrhages”.
Since, in the case of Norway, “…the risk of dying after vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine would be higher than the risk of dying from the disease, particularly for younger people”.
And then it was Australia’s turn.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use in people aged 18 and over as a primary course from 15 February 2021.
The rollout began on 22 February 2021, right around the time countries like South Africa and Austria had already gathered data.
Despite this, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, said there was no evidence the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots.
However, just a few months into the vaccine rollout, May 2021, Australia’s medicines watchdog revealed that multiple people were affected by blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine:
On 17 June 2021, the following month, Australia revised its recommendations for the rollout of the vaccine, recommending that the Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine be used for people aged under 60 years.
Source: https://tottnews.com/2023/04/04/astrazeneca-discontinued-australia/
