AstraZeneca says withdraws Covid vaccine ‘for commercial reasons’

A Syrian health worker prepares a dose of the Vaxzevria AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus, before inoculating a patient in the capital Damascus, on September 9, 2021. (AFP)

LONDON: British drugmaker AstraZeneca said Wednesday that it has withdrawn its Covid vaccine Vaxzevria, one of the first produced in the pandemic, citing “commercial reasons” and a surplus of updated jabs.

“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since 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,” an AstraZeneca spokeperson said.