AstraZeneca to stop producing the Covid vaccines

The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being taken off the market after more than three billion doses have been given.

AstraZeneca said it was very happy with the vaccine, and it made a decision for business reasons.

It said that because new versions of the coronavirus are spreading, people are now wanting the newer vaccines. The vaccine saved a lot of lives but also caused some rare and deadly blood clots.

Scientists at Oxford University created the Covid vaccine very quickly to help end the pandemic lockdowns. A procedure that usually lasts 10 years was speeded up to about 10 months.

In November 2020, a vaccine was praised as “a vaccine for the world” because it was less expensive and could be stored more easily than other vaccines for Covid. The big drug company AstraZeneca agreed to make a lot of it.

At first, it was a key part of the UK’s plan to use vaccines to end the lockdown.

Prof Adam Finn from the University of Bristol said that the vaccine made a big difference and helped us get out of the bad situation we were in at that time, along with the Pfizer vaccine.

But people started to worry about the vaccine when they learned that it could cause rare blood clots. Because of this, the UK started using different vaccines instead.

AstraZeneca said that over 6. 5 million lives were saved in the first year of use, according to independent estimates.

“Many governments around the world have praised our work and see it as an important part of stopping the global pandemic.”
It means that because new vaccines are better at fighting the new forms of Covid, the old vaccines are not needed as much. So, the company is not making or selling the old vaccine anymore.

Prof Finn said that he believes the vaccine is being taken off the market because it is no longer helpful.

“This virus can change quickly and has changed in a way that makes the original vaccines ineffective. Only the updated vaccines are likely to be used now. “