AstraZeneca admits COVID jab can cause rare blood clot deaths

AstraZeneca has admitted in court for the first time its COVID jab has a deadly blood-clotting side effect.

The exceedingly rare reaction is at the heart of a class action by families who allege they, or loved ones, were maimed or killed by the “defective” vaccine.

Their lawyers believe some of the cases could result in up to £20million (AUD$38m) in compensation.

Cambridge-based AstraZeneca, which is contesting the claims, acknowledged in a legal document submitted to the High Court in February that its vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause “TTS”.

TTS is short for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, where a patient suffers blood clots along with a low platelet count.

The complication – listed as a potential side effect of the jab – had been called vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).

AstraZeneca has accepted it as a potential side effect for two years but this is the first time the company has admitted in court that its jab can cause the condition, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Taxpayers will foot the bill of any potential settlement because of an indemnity deal AstraZeneca struck with the Government to get the jabs produced as fast as possible.

The firm has just reported revenues of £10billion (AUD$19m) in the first quarter of 2024 – a 19 per cent increase.

One of those seeking compensation for injuries linked to AstraZeneca’s vaccine is Jamie Scott.

The father of two and IT engineer was left with a permanent brain injury following a blood clot and a bleed on the brain after getting the vaccine in April 2021.

He has been unable to work since. His is one of 51 cases lodged in the High court seeking damages estimated to be worth about £100million (AUD$191m) in total.

His wife Kate said: “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.”

Sarah Moore of law firm Leigh Day, which is representing claimants, accused AstraZeneca of using delaying tactics.

She said: “It seems that AZ, the Government and their lawyers are more keen to play strategic games and run up legal fees than to engage seriously with the devastating impact that their AZ vaccine has had upon our clients’ lives.”

AstraZeneca said in a statement: “Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems.

“Patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.”

The firm added: “From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca- Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”

The new documents submitted to the court mark a change of language from the previous Astra- Zeneca submissions made last year, when it claimed that TSS couldn’t be caused by its jab “at a generic level”.

About 50 million doses of the vaccine jab were dished out in the UK and it is credited with saving six million lives globally during the coronavirus pandemic. the firm is being sued under the 1987 consumer Protection Act.