Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the company behind the Covishield vaccine, is being sued in a class action over claims relating to its acknowledgment in court documents submitted to the UK High Court in February, that for the first time its Covid-29 vaccine 'Covishield' can in very rare cases cause Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), which could lead to a multi-million pound legal payout.

AstraZeneca said, “It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known. Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence”

TTS or Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome is a rare yet serious condition suffered by some vaccine takers, with symptoms including blood clots and platelet levels. During the COVID-19 epidemic, AstraZeneca and Oxford University created the Covishield vaccine, which was produced by the Serum Institute of India and widely disseminated throughout the nation.

In the UK, AstraZeneca is presently facing a class-action lawsuit from plaintiffs claiming that the vaccination caused several fatalities and serious disabilities. Fifty-one lawsuits involving damages of up to £100 million are pending in the UK High Court.

Jamie Scott, the initial claimant in the lawsuit, said that following vaccination in April 2021, he experienced a blood clot that permanently damaged his brain, incapacitating him from work and even informing his wife three times that he would not survive.

While AstraZeneca has denied these allegations, it did acknowledge in a February court filing that Covishield may, in very rare cases, cause thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which is characterized by low platelet counts and blood clots.

AstraZeneca's acknowledgment is a component of its legal defense in Scott's lawsuit, which might result in damages for the victims and their families. This statement is noteworthy since it goes against the company's earlier position from 2023 when it denied that TTS was causally connected to the vaccination.

AstraZeneca, meanwhile, has refuted the attorneys' allegations that the vaccine is "defective" and that its effectiveness has been "vastly overstated."

Dr Jagadish J Hiremath, a public health intellectual, elaborates, “Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) is a rare condition characterized by the formation of blood clots (thrombosis) in blood vessels and a low number of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia). It has been observed as an extremely rare adverse effect associated with certain COVID-19 vaccines, notably those that use adenovirus vectors, like the AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield).”

He informs, “TTS typically presents symptoms like severe headache, blurred vision, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, and shortness of breath appearing within a few weeks after vaccination.”

Amid concerns of vaccination-related side effects, such as blood clots, the COVID-19 vaccine was halted in various nations. Austria halted the use of one batch in March 2021 after two recipients of the vaccination experienced blood clots, one of whom passed away.

Several countries, mostly in Europe, stopped using the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca over time. This covers the following countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Sweden, Latvia, Slovenia, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Denmark, Ireland, Thailand, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Congo, Bulgaria, and so on.

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