AstraZaneca admits in court that its Covid vaccine can cause complications

For the first time since its COVID-19 vaccine was rolled out, AstraZeneca has admitted that the medicine can cause a rare side effect. In legal documents submitted to the United Kingdom High Court, the pharmaceutical giant accepted that its COVID-19 vaccine "can, in very rare cases, cause TTS".

Here, TTS stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, which can cause people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count.

The admittance, as per the Telegraph, could pave the way for a multi-million-pound legal payout.

AstraZeneca is facing class action suits over claims that its COVID-19 vaccination, developed in conjunction with Oxford, caused serious injury or death in dozens of cases.

The first case against the company was lodged by Jamie Scott, father of two, who was 44 when he received the vaccine. Ten days after the jab, Scott complained of tiredness and soon started vomiting. Soon after, his speech got impaired, and he had to be taken to the hospital, where physicians diagnosed him with a suspected case of Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (VITT).

He survived the ordeal but was left with a permanent brain injury.

Alongside Scott, 51 cases have been lodged against the company, with victims and grieving relatives seeking damages estimated to be worth up to £100 million ($125.36 million).

Lawyers for the pharma giant, however, in a letter of response sent in May last year contended "we do not accept that TTS is caused by the vaccine at a generic level".

However, in the document submitted in February this year, 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."

However, lawyers for the victims argue that AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is "defective" and that its efficacy has been "vastly overstated". AstraZeneca has strongly denied these claims.

Jamie Scott's wife, in a statement to The Telegraph, said "The medical world has acknowledged for a long time that VITT was caused by the vaccine. It's only AstraZeneca who have questioned whether Jamie’s condition was caused by the jab."

She said while it has "taken three years for this admission to come…it is progress".

"But we would like to see more from them and the Government. It's time for things to move more quickly," she added.

"I hope their admission means we will be able to sort this out sooner rather than later. We need an apology, fair compensation for our family and other families who have been affected. We have the truth on our side, and we are not going to give up."

(With inputs from agencies)