A nurse holds a syringe of a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Guadalajara, Mexico in April 2022. The drug firm is to cease production of the shots. AFP
A nurse holds a syringe of a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Guadalajara, Mexico in April 2022. The drug firm is to cease production of the shots. AFP
A nurse holds a syringe of a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Guadalajara, Mexico in April 2022. The drug firm is to cease production of the shots. AFP
A nurse holds a syringe of a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Guadalajara, Mexico in April 2022. The drug firm is to cease production of the shots. AFP

AstraZeneca withdraws Covid-19 vaccine due to 'lack of demand'


Gillian Duncan
  • English
  • Arabic

AstraZeneca has begun the worldwide withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” since the pandemic.

The company said it would proceed to withdraw Vaxzevria's marketing authorisations within Europe.

Regulator, the European Medicines Agency, has confirmed the vaccine is no longer authorised for use.

“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines,” the company said, adding this had led to a decline in demand.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's decision came after a statement to the High Court in London in February confirmed that its vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS” (Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome), a form of blood clot.

Cases were found in people with a low blood platelet count.

It is estimated that between two and three per 100,000 people who were vaccinated had this adverse effect.

Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol and head of the Bristol Children's Vaccine Centre, said the the withdrawal is likely not related to the rare side effect.

He told Radio 4's Today show on Wednesday: "It's turned out that this virus is very agile, and it's evolved away from the original vaccines. So they have in a sense become irrelevant and only the reformulated vaccines are likely to be being used now.

"And of course, we're in a very different place, with almost everyone at the population immune to Sars-CoV-2. So the need for this vaccine I think has evaporated now."

Nevertheless, the relationship between the vaccine and TTS has been known for some time, he said.

AstraZeneca vaccine - in pictures

  • An employee is pictured at the Reference Centre for Special Immunobiologicals (CRIE) of the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the trials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine are conducted. Amanda Perobelli / Reuters
    An employee is pictured at the Reference Centre for Special Immunobiologicals (CRIE) of the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the trials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine are conducted. Amanda Perobelli / Reuters
  • A chemist works at AstraZeneca's Sydney labs after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a coronavirus disease vaccine, if it proves successful. Dan Himbrechts / Australian Associated Press via Reuters
    A chemist works at AstraZeneca's Sydney labs after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a coronavirus disease vaccine, if it proves successful. Dan Himbrechts / Australian Associated Press via Reuters
  • AstraZeneca's vaccine was among the furthest along in development. AFP
    AstraZeneca's vaccine was among the furthest along in development. AFP
  • Technicians work at the mAbxience biopharmaceutical company on an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and the laboratory AstraZeneca in Garin, Argentina. Natacha Pisarenko / AP
    Technicians work at the mAbxience biopharmaceutical company on an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and the laboratory AstraZeneca in Garin, Argentina. Natacha Pisarenko / AP
  • The single trial volunteer's illness is not seen as a significant setback, despite the publicity surrounding it. Paul Ellis / AFP
    The single trial volunteer's illness is not seen as a significant setback, despite the publicity surrounding it. Paul Ellis / AFP
  • Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tours AstraZeneca's Sydney laboratories in September as the government signs a deal with the British-Swedish firm for a supply of a Covid-19 vaccine. EPA
    Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tours AstraZeneca's Sydney laboratories in September as the government signs a deal with the British-Swedish firm for a supply of a Covid-19 vaccine. EPA

He added: "It's completely clear that this vaccine and the other one [using] this platform, a viral vector from Johnson & Johnson, was associated with this thrombocytopenic thrombosis syndrome. I think that's been clear for a long time, although perhaps only recently acknowledged.

"But I don't think that's really relevant to this withdrawal. I think the withdrawal of the vaccine is simply reflects the fact that it's no longer useful and so not going to be being used anymore."

The firm's application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7, according to the UK's Daily Telegraph.

Patients who say they were left with permanent health problems and are suing the drug maker, though some cases were recently dropped after being told the presence of a small print warning means their case would probably fail.

Gareth Eve, whose BBC radio presenter wife Lisa Shaw died three weeks after receiving her first dose, is among a number of parties who have pulled out of the High Court legal action.

Award-winning BBC radio presenter Lisa Shaw, who died due to complications from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. PA
Award-winning BBC radio presenter Lisa Shaw, who died due to complications from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. PA

They were told their claim was unlikely to succeed because a leaflet, handed out at vaccination centres, warned of “extremely rare cases of blood clots with low levels of platelets” after vaccination with the AstraZeneca shot.

It is believed the warning, issued on April 7, 2021, could protect AstraZeneca from cases in which relatives died after receiving vaccines beyond that date.

A dozen families have now dropped out of the legal action as a result.

But more than 50 of relatives of people who received the vaccine before the warning was added are continuing with the lawsuit.

The vaccine, developed with scientists from the University of Oxford, was seen as pivotal given its low cost and the fact it could be stored in a normal fridge rather than super-cold storage.

London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals last year after a slowdown in growth as Covid-19 medicine sales declined, Reuters reported.

Scientists are still learning much about the effects of Long Covid, which is thought to affect millions of people.

Great hope

The launch of the AstraZeneca vaccine was seen as a milestone in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first clinical trial for the vaccine started in January 2020, around the same time when reports of the first cases emerged in China.

It built on previous work to create an adenovirus-based vaccine against the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, making it a case of ‘copying and pasting’ the genetic code for the spike protein for the virus that causes Covid into the platform's harmless chimp adenovirus to create the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine.

By early February, the lab had tested a lab version of the vaccine in mice, which revealed strong immune responses, suggesting the vaccine would work.

Human volunteers received their first doses in April 2020.

NHS staff administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in St Helens, United Kingdom. Getty Images
NHS staff administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in St Helens, United Kingdom. Getty Images

On 23 November 2020, it was announced the vaccine was successful, with 70.4% efficacy in preventing symptomatic Covid more than 14 days after receiving two doses of the vaccine.

"We were involved in Bristol in collaboration with Oxford a number of other centres in doing research on this vaccine and I very clearly remember the day in November 2020, when the results came through. And it turned out that it worked," said Prof Finn.

"And we were able to see very early on that even just one dose of this vaccine was saving many, many lives.

"It was a very remarkable period and we really didn't know what to expect, as it came through. Of course, we've never had the experience of developing a vaccine in such a short period of time. But the truth is, it made an enormous difference. It was what as you said at the beginning was what lifted us out of the catastrophe that was unfolding at the time, combined with the other vaccine from Pfizer."

The biog

DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year

Roll of honour 2019-2020

Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain

West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership

UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes

UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II

UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby

Match info

Manchester United 1
Fred (18')

Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')

Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds  

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Bio

Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959

Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.

He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses

Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas

His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s

Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business

He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery 

Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all

RESULT

Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Manchester United 5

Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')

Roll of honour: Who won what in 2018/19?

West Asia Premiership: Winners – Bahrain; Runners-up – Dubai Exiles

UAE Premiership: Winners – Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners-up  Jebel Ali Dragons

Dubai Rugby Sevens: Winners – Dubai Hurricanes; Runners-up – Abu Dhabi Harlequins

UAE Conference: Winners  Dubai Tigers; Runners-up  Al Ain Amblers

Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

The biog

Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.

Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.

Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.

Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill

Favourite food: Dim sum

Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Porsche Macan T: The Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo 

Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm 

Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm 

Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto 

Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec 

Top speed: 232kph 

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km 

On sale: May or June 

Price: From Dh259,900  

Updated: May 08, 2024, 9:24 AM