New Research Finds AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Cause Another Rare But Deadly Blood Clotting Disorder (image@Pixabay)
The pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca is under public scrutiny for yet another incident of fatal blood clotting disorder. According to research reports, the company”s Covid-19 vaccine, which it made in collaboration with Oxford university, has been found to raise the risk of inducing immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT). It is a rare but fatal blood clotting disorder, said the researchers today.
While VITT is not unknown, it now popped up as a new disease caused by the adenovirus vector-based Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which was sold as Covishield in Indian and as Vaxzevria in Europe, in 2021 when the covid pandemic was at its heights.
The reason for the newly founded fatal disorder was reported to be an “unusually dangerous blood autoantibody directed against a protein termed platelet factor 4 (PF4). It is to note that, in 2023, researchers from Canada, North America, Germany, and Italy reported about an almost identical condition featuring the PF4 antibody, which was proved to be fatal in certain cases after a natural adenovirus infection (common cold).
In the new research conducted by the Flinders University of Australia and other international experts, it is found that the PF4 antibodies in adenovirus infection-associated VITT and classic adenoviral vector VITT share identical molecular fingerprints or signatures.
Tom Gordon, a professor from the Australian University said that the ” pathways of lethal antibody production in these disorders must be virtually identical and have similar genetic risk factors”. He further said that the findings that have the important clinical implication that lessons learned from VITT are applicable to rare cases of blood clotting after adenovirus (a common cold) infections, as well as having implications for vaccine development.
As per Reuters report, on Thursday, AstraZeneca revealed that the vaccine”s Covid-19 prevention treatment successfully lowered the risk of infection among individuals with compromised immune systems, and thus meeting the primary objective of the late-stage trial.
The pharma giant started a sipavibart, a long-acting antibody therapy, and demonstrated a “statistically significant reduction” in symptomatic COVID-19 cases among immunocompromised patients, said Reuters. The company”s Executive Vice President for Vaccines and Immune Therapies, Iskra Reic, said that the Immunocompromised patients currently have limited or no options for COVID-19 protection and continue to face a significant burden of disease, despite often being fully vaccinated. He said the company will now work with regulatory authorities globally to bring the sipavibart to the vulnerable patients.
The new research came after AstraZeneca accepted that its Covid vaccine can “in very rare cases, cause Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Syndrome (TTS)”. It is a rare side effect that can cause people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count. Reportedly, the vaccine has been associated with at least 81 deaths and numerous serious injuries in UK. The pharmaceutical faces over 50 lawsuits from alleged victims and bereaved relatives of the victims of the vaccine.
After agreeing the fault in the vaccine in a legal document in February, the company withdrew the Covid-19 vaccine worldwide. However, the pharmaceutical firm attributed the decision to withdraw the vaccine to “commercial reasons”.
