The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says the withdrawal of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine globally is due to the availability of other superior vaccines in the market.
Earlier, the makers of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was one of the most used vaccines globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced that they have started a global withdrawal of their vaccines, citing the existence of an uncommon adverse effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS).
This condition, characterised by the formation of blood clots that obstruct veins or arteries, can manifest through symptoms such as unilateral leg pain and swelling, chest discomfort, or one-sided body numbness.
The complications associated with thrombosis, including strokes or heart attacks, can be fatal.
The company said the withdrawal was due to a surplus of available updated vaccines since the pandemic.
However, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, who addressed media practitioners during a tour as part of the COVID-19 Vaccination and Child Health Promotion Week/African Vaccination Week Campaign in various parts of the Ga East Municipality in Accra on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, clarified that the manufacturer’s withdrawal was not due to medical implications but because of competition.
“They are withdrawing for commercial reasons in the sense that there are superior vaccines in the market”.
“And so if you are in a market and you will not be able to compete, why produce something when others will go for some other brand?” he quizzed.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, which collaborated with the University of Oxford to create the vaccine, is currently dealing with a lawsuit that claims their vaccine has caused deaths and severe harm to those who received it.