The withdrawal of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is primarily due to commercial reasons, the Ghana Health Services has diclosed.
Director General of the GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye indicated that although the decision by the company to withdraw the vaccine may raise concerns, there is no cause for alarm.
He said it is important to understand that the decision is not related to the vaccine’s efficacy or safety. Instead, it is driven by market dynamics and the availability of newer vaccine options.
AstraZeneca has announced it’s decsion to withdraw the coronavirus vaccine.
The company cited the availability of a plethora of new shots that has led to a decline in demand.
“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have … been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied,” it said in a statement.
“AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate withdrawal of the marketing authorizations for Vaxzevria within Europe,” it added.
Dr. Kuma-Aboagye reacting to this said: “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 said.
He said this 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.
By: Rainbowradioonline com/Ghana
