Category: Vaccine

By John Ely Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline 16:25 29 Apr 2024, updated 17:14 29 Apr 2024

More than 250million could be given to victims allegedly harmed by AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, MailOnline can reveal today.

Fifty-one families are pursuing legal action against the pharmaceutical titan, arguing the 'defective' jab was to blame for their injuries and deaths of loved ones.

Lawyers involved in the huge legal battle think some victims could be in line for pay-outs worth up to 5million.

As such, the total compensation bill which would be footed by taxpayers because of a deal AstraZeneca struck with the Government before the roll-out commenced could theoretically reach 255m, if judges were to rule the vaccine was to blame for all of the injuries and deaths involved in the class action.

However, claims have yet to be fully quantified and some cases could eclipse or fall much short of the estimated 5million.

Some might not be proven to be down to the vaccine, which was given to millions of Britons. Deadly side effects were extraordinarily rare.

The revelation at the potential compensation bill comes after AstraZeneca admitted for the first time that its vaccine could cause a blood clotting syndrome linked to some of the lawsuits.

Cambridge-based AstraZeneca, which is contesting the legal battle, 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 a medical condition where a person suffers blood clots along with a low platelet count. Platelets typically help the blood to clot.

AstraZeneca's admission could lead to pay-outs on a case-by-case basis.

One of those seeking compensation isfor injuries linked to AstraZeneca's vaccine is father-of-two and IT engineer Jamie Scott.

He was left with a permanent brain injury following a blood clot and the bleed on the brain after getting the vaccine in April 2021. He has been unable to work since.

His wife Kate told The Telegraph: 'The medical world has acknowledged for a long time that VITT was caused by the vaccine.

'Its only AstraZeneca who have questioned whether Jamies condition was caused by the jab.

'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.'

TTS, or vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), is thought to be linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK.

Not all are proven, however. And not every family is seeking legal action.

The complication is exceedingly rare, given the millions of doses dished out during the roll-out.

Taxpayers will foot the bill of any potential settlement because ofan indemnity deal AstraZeneca struck with the Government in the darkest days of Covidto get the jabs produced as quickly as possible while the country was paralysed by lockdowns.

It comes just days after the firm reported a revenue exceeding 10billion in the first quarter of 2024, a rise of 19 per cent. Company officials stated it had enjoyed a 'very strong start' to the year.

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.

'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 that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.'

The new documents submitted to the court marks a change of language from the previous AstraZeneca submissions made last year, when it claimed that TSS couldn't be caused by its jab 'at a generic level'.

Its new submission also adds that the trigger that causes some people to suffer TSS from theAstraZeneca jab is unknown and can also occur in people independent of any vaccine.

It claims: 'Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence.'

Similar action to that being taken by British families is understood to be underway in other countries where the AstraZeneca jab was deployed, including in Germany and Italy.

AstraZeneca denies its new submission represents a U-turn onacknowledging its jab can cause TTS in court documents.

Lawyers representing victims and families are suing AstraZeneca under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

They argue the vaccine was 'a defective product' that was 'not as safe as consumers generally were reasonably entitled to expect'.AstraZeneca has strongly denied these claims.

Health officials first identified cases of VITT linked toAstraZeneca's jab in Europe as early as March 2021, just over two months after the vaccine was first deployed in the UK.

However, it wasn't until April that year that evidence became clear enough that the jab started to be restricted.

Spooked officials first restricted the jab to only people over 30. They then narrowed this to only over-40s inMay 2021.

As the vaccine still worked against Covid, it was still deemed worth giving to older Brits who were at greater risk of death or injury from falling ill with the virus.

About 50million doses of the AstraZeneca jab were dished out in the UK in total.

Official data shows at least81 Brits have died from blood clot complications apparently linked to the AstraZeneca jab, according to figures collected by the UK's drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

A further unconfirmed number have been injured and/or disabled.

Further Covid vaccine rollouts have either minimised use of the AstraZeneca jab and/or phased it out entirely in favour of mRNA alternatives like those made by rival pharma giants Pfizer and Moderna.

With health officials not ordering any more doses, this effectively means the jab has all but been withdrawn in the UK.

The risk of TTS following AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine is thought to be in the region of one in 50,000.

However, AstraZeneca's jab is credited with saving some 6million lives globally during the Covid pandemic.

Victims and families seeking compensation that MailOnline has spoken to staunchly insist they believe in the merits of vaccination for public goodand aren't anti-vaxxers.

The reasons why people are taking legal action are complex.

Some who are severely disabled are facing huge ongoing medical costs as well as being out of work. In some cases, their family members are also having to quit employment to provide them round-the-clock care.

Others are, at least in part, pursuing the action as way of seeking justice for either those they have lost or lives that have been completely upturned by their injuries.

Part of the reason some are seeking action is due to what critics have labelled as the inadequate or arbitrary nature of the Government's vaccine damage payment scheme.

This policy, which has been around since the 70s, offers people, or their families, a tax-free sum of 120,000, though restrictions apply.

It is only available to the family of those who died orthose left 'severely disabled' defined as being at least 60 per cent disabled, based on evidence from a doctor because of a vaccine.

Established back in 1979, the scheme is meant to reassure people that, in the unlikely event something goes wrong, the state will provide support.

In theory, it is meant to combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage the public to get jabbed from various pathogens helping protect the nation from disease.

But critics have said the scheme is arduous, stingy in terms of total amount payout, and cruel in its 60 per cent disability threshold that leaves people less severely injured with nothing.

As it is not compensation, people who take the payment are still entitled to take legal action against a vaccine manufacturer if they choose, as some people affected by the AstraZeneca jab are.

Campaigners hope the attention brought by the AstraZeneca case will spark a much-needed rethink of how the nation's vaccine injured and bereaved are supported.

If Brits are left destitute from vaccine-derived injuries, experts fear this will fuel vaccine hesitancy in the future, risking public health from a variety of preventable diseases.

It could also leave people vulnerable to a potential future pandemic from a novel virus if some refuse the jabs out of fear that they, or their families,could be left financially ruined if something goes wrong.

Mrs Scott is one of critics of the system, previously saying:'Even if we do get the 120,000 payment, it's not enough to keep us going for ever. And it's insulting, considering what Jamie has been through,' she said.

Another of those pursuing action against AstraZeneca is Melle Stewart, anAustralian actor who got the company's Covid jab while living in the UK.

In February 2020, just weeks before Covid ripped across the globe, Melle Stewart was enjoying standing ovations in Belfastfor her role in the musical 'Kiss Me, Kate'.

But after suffering a devastating stroke the 42-year-old struggles to put a sentence together, speaking only slowly, and'grieving' for the successful stage career she has lost.

Ms Stewart is taking AstraZeneca to court, with husband Ben Lewis saying they felt misled by the Government over the jab's safety.

Though having suffered greatly, she was and continues to be a 'staunch and proud' advocate for vaccination, having gone on to receive other non-AstraZeneca Covid vaccines since her injury.

January 2020: Oxford University scientists start working on a Covid vaccine after the World Health Organization declares the spread of the virus a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern'

March 2020: Then Prime Minister Boris announced the first national lockdown. That same month, the Government invests 88million in the development of the Oxford vaccine

April 2020: Alongside AstraZeneca, scientists start the first clinical trials of their new vaccine. This involved 1,000 volunteers in the UK

July 2020: Results from phase two trials of AstraZeneca's jab are published

4 December 2020:Covid jab rollout begins with the Pfizer vaccine. Over-80s and care home workers are given priority

8 December 2020:Phase three trial results of theAstraZeneca's jab are published. These are what health officials will use to approve the jab for use in the UK

30 December 2020:AstraZeneca's jab is approved for emergency use

4 January 2021: FirstAstraZeneca doses start being dished out.Brian Pinker, 82, is the first person to receive the jab outside of clinical trials

8 January 2021: Frontline NHS staff start being offered vaccines

8 February 2021: Over-70s are called forward

14 February 2021: Roll-out opens up to Brits with underlying heath conditions, as well as the over-65s

28 February 2021: All over-60s are invited for jabs

11March 2021:European countries start suspending use of the AstraZeneca jab after death of a 60-year-old woman from a blood clot

17 March 2021: Over 50s start being offered Covid jabs in the UK

19 March 2021: Several European countriesreverse decision to suspendAstraZeneca jab after initialinvestigations find no link to reported blood clots

31 March 2021: People living with vulnerable adults are called forward to get a Covid vaccine in the UK, even if they are younger than eligible age groups

7 April 2021:UK restricts the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to over-30s over a small but statistically significant risk of blood clots in younger people

30 April 2021: Over-40s are called forward for Covid jabs

7 May 2021: Restriction of the AstraZeneca vaccine is widened to include over-40s

August 2022: Government sources say they will not order anymore AstraZeneca Covid vaccines instead focuses on mRNA alternatives

March 2023: Dozens of patients and families launch legal action against AstraZeneca due to

April 2023: Widower of a BBC presenter Lisa Shaw who died after having the vaccine said he has 'no alternative' but to sue AstraZeneca

4 August 2023: Anish Tailor, whose wife Alpa died in March 2021 after receiving her first AstraZeneca dose, filed a product liability claim against AstraZeneca at London's High Court.His lawyer says he has nearly 50 other clients who will formally sue AstraZeneca in the coming months

17 August 2023: IT engineer Jamie Scott, who suffered a brain haemorrhage the day after his first AstraZeneca jab starts a legal case against the company. The law firm representing Mr Scott says it represents around 40 other individuals or bereaved families

Read the original here:

AstraZeneca faces up to 255million compensation bill for 'defective' Covid vaccine after pharma titan admitte - Daily Mail

By John Ely Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline 11:27 29 Apr 2024, updated 13:43 29 Apr 2024

AstraZeneca has admitted in court for the first time that its Covid jab can cause a deadly blood clotting side effect.

The exceedingly rare reaction is at the heart of a multi million-pound class action by dozens of families who allege they, or their loved ones, were maimed or killed by the pharmaceutical titan's 'defective' vaccine.

Lawyers representing the claimants believe some of the cases could be worth up to 20m in compensation.

Cambridge-based AstraZeneca, which is contesting the claims, acknowledged in a legaldocument 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 a medical condition where a person suffers blood clots along with a low platelet count. Platelets typically help the blood to clot.

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

AstraZeneca's admission could lead to pay-outs on a case-by-case basis.

Although accepted as a potential side effect for two years, it marks the first time the company has admitted in court that its jab can cause the condition, The Telegraph reports.

Taxpayers will foot the bill of any potential settlement because ofan indemnity deal AstraZeneca struck with the Government in the darkest days of Covidto get the jabs produced as quickly as possible while the country was paralysed by lockdowns.

It comes just days after the firm reported a revenue exceeding 10billion in the first quarter of 2024, a rise of 19 per cent. Company officials stated it had enjoyed a 'very strong start' to the year.

One of those seeking compensation for injuries linked to AstraZeneca's vaccine is father-of-two and IT engineer Jamie Scott.

He was left with a permanent brain injury following a blood clot and the bleed on the brain after getting the vaccine in April 2021. He has been unable to work since.

His is one of 51 cases currently lodged in the High Court seeking damages estimated to be worth about 100million in total.

On the revelation, Kate Scott, Mr Scotts wife, 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, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, who is representing claimants against AstraZeneca (AZ), accused the company of using delaying tactics against victims.

She said: 'Regrettably 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.

'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 that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.'

The new documents submitted to the court marks a change of language from the previous AstraZeneca submissions made last year, when it claimed that TSS couldn't be caused by its jab 'at a generic level'.

Its new submission also adds that the trigger that causes some people to suffer TSS from theAstraZeneca jab is unknown and can also occur in people independent of any vaccine.

It claims: 'Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence.'

AstraZeneca denies its new submission represents a U-turn onacknowledging its jab can cause TTS in court documents.

Lawyers representing victims and families are suing AstraZeneca under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

They argue the vaccine was 'a defective product' that was 'not as safe as consumers generally were reasonably entitled to expect'.AstraZeneca has strongly denied these claims.

Health officials first identified cases of VITT linked toAstraZeneca's jab in Europe as early as March 2021, just over two months after the vaccine was first deployed in the UK.

However, it wasn't until April that year that evidence became clear enough that the jab started to be restricted.

Officials first restricted the jab to only people over 30. They then expanded this to only people over 40 inMay 2021.

As the vaccine still worked against Covid, it was still deemed worth giving to older Brits who were at greater risk of death or injury from falling ill with the virus.

About 50million doses of the AstraZeneca jab were dished out in the UK in total.

Official data shows at least81 Brits have died from blood clot complications apparently linked to the AstraZeneca jab, according to figures collected by the UK's drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

A further unconfirmed number have been injured and/or disabled.

Further Covid vaccine rollouts have either minimised use of the AstraZeneca jab and/or phased it out entirely in favour of mRNA alternatives like those made by rival pharma giants Pfizer and Moderna.

With health officials not ordering any more doses, this effectively means the jab has all but been withdrawn in the UK.

The risk of TTS following AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine is thought to be in the region of one in 50,000.

However, AstraZeneca's jab is credited with saving some 6million lives globally during the Covid pandemic.

Victims and families seeking compensation that MailOnline has spoken to staunchly insist they believe in the merits of vaccination for public goodand aren't anti-vaxxers.

The reasons why people are taking legal action are complex.

Some who are severely disabled are facing huge ongoing medical costs as well as being out of work. In some cases, their family members are also having to quit employment to provide them round-the-clock care.

Others are, at least in part, pursuing the action as way of seeking justice for either those they have lost or lives that have been completely upturned by their injuries.

Part of the reason some are seeking action is due to what critics have labelled as the inadequate or arbitrary nature of the Government's vaccine damage payment scheme.

This policy, which has been around since the 70s, offers people, or their families, a tax-free sum of 120,000, though restrictions apply.

It is only available to the family of those who died orthose left 'severely disabled' defined as being at least 60 per cent disabled, based on evidence from a doctor because of a vaccine.

Established back in 1979, the scheme is meant to reassure people that, in the unlikely event something goes wrong, the state will provide support.

In theory, it is meant to combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage the public to get jabbed from various pathogens helping protect the nation from disease.

But critics have said the scheme is arduous, stingy in terms of total amount payout, and cruel in its 60 per cent disability threshold that leaves people less severely injured with nothing.

As it is not compensation, people who take the payment are still entitled to take legal action against a vaccine manufacturer if they choose, as some people affected by the AstraZeneca jab are.

Campaigners hope the attention brought by the AstraZeneca case will spark a much-needed rethink of how the nation's vaccine injured and bereaved are supported.

If Brits are left destitute from vaccine-derived injuries, experts fear this will fuel vaccine hesitancy in the future, risking public health from a variety of preventable diseases.

It could also leave people vulnerable to a potential future pandemic from a novel virus if some refuse the jabs out of fear that they, or their families,could be left financially ruined if something goes wrong.

Mrs Scott is one of critics of the system, previously saying:'Even if we do get the 120,000 payment, it's not enough to keep us going for ever. And it's insulting, considering what Jamie has been through,' she said.

Another of those pursuing action against AstraZeneca is Melle Stewart, anAustralian actor who got the company's Covid jab while living in the UK.

In February 2020, just weeks before Covid ripped across the globe, Melle Stewart was enjoying standing ovations in Belfastfor her role in the musical 'Kiss Me, Kate'.

But after suffering a devastating stroke the 42-year-old struggles to put a sentence together, speaking only slowly, and'grieving' for the successful stage career she has lost.

Ms Stewart is taking AstraZeneca to court, with husband Ben Lewis saying they felt misled by the Government over the jab's safety.

Though having suffered greatly, she was and continues to be a 'staunch and proud' advocate for vaccination, having gone on to receive other non-AstraZeneca Covid vaccines since her injury.

January 2020: Oxford University scientists start working on a Covid vaccine after the World Health Organization declares the spread of the virus a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern'

March 2020: Then Prime Minister Boris announced the first national lockdown. That same month, the Government invests 88million in the development of the Oxford vaccine

April 2020: Alongside AstraZeneca, scientists start the first clinical trials of their new vaccine. This involved 1,000 volunteers in the UK

July 2020: Results from phase two trials of AstraZeneca's jab are published

4 December 2020:Covid jab rollout begins with the Pfizer vaccine. Over-80s and care home workers are given priority

8 December 2020:Phase three trial results of theAstraZeneca's jab are published. These are what health officials will use to approve the jab for use in the UK

30 December 2020:AstraZeneca's jab is approved for emergency use

4 January 2021: FirstAstraZeneca doses start being dished out.Brian Pinker, 82, is the first person to receive the jab outside of clinical trials

8 January 2021: Frontline NHS staff start being offered vaccines

8 February 2021: Over-70s are called forward

14 February 2021: Roll-out opens up to Brits with underlying heath conditions, as well as the over-65s

28 February 2021: All over-60s are invited for jabs

11March 2021:European countries start suspending use of the AstraZeneca jab after death of a 60-year-old woman from a blood clot

17 March 2021: Over 50s start being offered Covid jabs in the UK

19 March 2021: Several European countriesreverse decision to suspendAstraZeneca jab after initialinvestigations find no link to reported blood clots

31 March 2021: People living with vulnerable adults are called forward to get a Covid vaccine in the UK, even if they are younger than eligible age groups

7 April 2021:UK restricts the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to over-30s over a small but statistically significant risk of blood clots in younger people

30 April 2021: Over-40s are called forward for Covid jabs

7 May 2021: Restriction of the AstraZeneca vaccine is widened to include over-40s

August 2022: Government sources say they will not order anymore AstraZeneca Covid vaccines instead focuses on mRNA alternatives

March 2023: Dozens of patients and families launch legal action against AstraZeneca due to

April 2023: Widower of a BBC presenter Lisa Shaw who died after having the vaccine said he has 'no alternative' but to sue AstraZeneca

4 August 2023: Anish Tailor, whose wife Alpa died in March 2021 after receiving her first AstraZeneca dose, filed a product liability claim against AstraZeneca at London's High Court.His lawyer says he has nearly 50 other clients who will formally sue AstraZeneca in the coming months

17 August 2023: IT engineer Jamie Scott, who suffered a brain haemorrhage the day after his first AstraZeneca jab starts a legal case against the company. The law firm representing Mr Scott says it represents around 40 other individuals or bereaved families

Originally posted here:

AstraZeneca admits for first time its Covid vaccine CAN cause rare side effect in tense legal fight with victi - Daily Mail

RAHWAY, N.J. - Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) has presented new data from its Phase 3 STRIDE-10 trial of V116, an investigational vaccine aimed at preventing invasive pneumococcal disease in adults. The findings, announced at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases meeting in Barcelona, Spain, suggest that V116 could be a significant advancement in adult pneumococcal disease prevention.

The STRIDE-10 study compared the immunogenicity, tolerability, and safety of V116 with the current PPSV23 vaccine in adults aged 50 and older who had not previously received a pneumococcal vaccine. The trial involved 1,484 participants who were randomized to receive a single dose of either V116 or PPSV23.

Results from the trial indicated that V116 triggered immune responses that were noninferior to those of PPSV23 for the 12 serotypes common to both vaccines. Moreover, V116 showed superior immune responses for the nine serotypes unique to it, not included in PPSV23. The safety profile of V116 was also comparable to that of PPSV23.

These results build upon previous Phase 3 trial data and suggest that V116 could offer broader protection against pneumococcal disease, a significant health concern, especially among older adults and those with certain health conditions. The serotypes targeted by V116 account for approximately 83% of invasive pneumococcal disease in individuals aged 65 and older, based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2018-2021.

V116 is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The FDA has granted the vaccine priority review, with a target action date of June 17, 2024.

Merck also presented research suggesting that V116 may help to reduce the health and economic burden associated with invasive pneumococcal disease and non-bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia among adults in several European countries.

The development of V116 is part of Mercks broader commitment to pneumococcal disease prevention. The company has a history of over 40 years in vaccine development and is focused on addressing the specific needs of different populations through its vaccine program.

The information in this article is based on a press release statement from Merck & Co., Inc.

As Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) continues to make strides in the healthcare sector with its latest vaccine developments, its financial health remains a key consideration for investors. The company's commitment to innovation is reflected in its robust performance metrics. The following insights from InvestingPro could help investors understand Merck's financial landscape as it progresses with its vaccine program:

InvestingPro Data: Merck's market capitalization stands strong at $332.33 billion, underlining its significant presence in the pharmaceutical industry. The company's P/E ratio, as of the last twelve months leading up to Q1 2024, is adjusted to 88.04, which indicates a high earnings multiple that investors are willing to pay for a share of its earnings. Despite a PEG ratio of -1.75 suggesting potential concerns over future earnings growth relative to its P/E ratio, Merck has demonstrated a solid revenue growth of 6.11% over the last twelve months, with a quarterly increase of 8.89% in Q1 2024, showcasing its ability to expand its financial top line.

Two notable InvestingPro Tips for Merck include the company's consistent history of raising its dividend, with payments maintained for 54 consecutive years, signaling a reliable return to shareholders. Additionally, analysts have revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period, reflecting optimism in the company's financial prospects. For investors seeking more in-depth analysis, there are 16 additional InvestingPro Tips available at https://www.investing.com/pro/MRK, providing a comprehensive outlook on Merck's financial health and stock performance.

As Merck advances its vaccine programs, such as the promising V116, the company's financial stability and growth potential remain critical factors to consider. Investors interested in a deeper dive into Merck's financials and stock analysis can take advantage of a special offer: use coupon code PRONEWS24 to get an additional 10% off a yearly or biyearly Pro and Pro+ subscription, unlocking a wealth of strategic insights and data points to inform investment decisions.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Go here to see the original:

Merck reports promising V116 vaccine trial results By Investing.com - Investing.com

UK-based AstraZeneca has acknowledged in court that its Covid vaccine can cause a rare blood clotting condition, British media reports said on Monday.

This follows a class action lawsuit brought by families who allege harm caused by the pharmaceutical giants vaccine. The admission comes amid legal proceedings triggered by claims that the vaccine led to serious health complications, The Daily Mail reported.

In a legal document submitted to a UK court in February, the Cambridge-based company conceded that its vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS," referring to thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. This condition involves the formation of blood clots accompanied by a low platelet count, which is critical for blood clotting.

Previously known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), this exceedingly rare complication has been listed as a potential side effect of the jab. According to the British daily, AstraZenecas admission paves the way for case-by-case settlements concerning individuals affected by the adverse reaction.

In the wake of the lawsuit, AstraZeneca has come out to express sympathy for those affected by adverse reactions to its vaccine while reaffirming its commitment to patient safety. The company underlined regulatory authorities stringent safety standards and reiterated the vaccines overall safety profile.

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Rohit

Rohit is sub-editor at News18.com and covers international news. He previously w

Location: London, United Kingdom (UK)

first published: April 29, 2024, 19:13 IST

See original here:

UK-Based AstraZeneca Acknowledges Rare Health Risk Of Its Covid Vaccine In Court - News18

In a milestone study led by the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), researchers have identified fragments from influenza B viruses that the immune system consistently recognize, offering promising targets for a universal influenza B vaccine.

Often underestimated, influenza B viruses can cause significant illness and mortality, especially in children. Despite the burden of influenza B viruses globally, they remain understudied and little is known about how the immune system interacts with these viruses.

A team of scientists, led by University of MelbourneProfessor Katherine Kedzierska, Head of the Human T cell Laboratory at the Doherty Institute, set out to change this by delving into the intricacies of the immune response toinfluenza B viruses, revealing a wealth of insights previously overlooked.

Published inNature Communications,the study focused on killer T cells, also known as CD8+T cells, whichplay a crucial role in the antiviral immune response, and discovered how they targetinfluenza B virusesto combat infection.

University of MelbourneTejas Menon, Graduate Researcher at the Doherty Institute and co-first author of the paper, described the challenge of identifying the specific parts of the influenza B viruses that killer T cells bind to as like searching for a needle in a haystack.

To tackle a virus, killer T cells need to be able to recognize the virus and find the best viral parts to target, explained Mr Menon.

As new variants of a virus emerge, killer T cells can recognize fragments that are unchanged among those influenza variants. This makes killer T cells an attractive immune population to stimulate with vaccines.

In the context of influenza B viruses, we were excited to discover nine viral fragments which provoked a strong immune response from killer T cells and remained unchanged in the virus' history. This finding, reached after sieving through hundreds of influenza B virus particles, which was done in collaboration Professor Purcell and Dr Illing from Monash University, is a significant advancement in our understanding of influenza B immunity.

Until now, only 18 such viral fragments had been identified, limiting the ability to generate new vaccines against influenza B viruses that prevent severe illness and death. This comprehensive study brings the total to 27, offering more options for vaccine development.

Researchers also explored how this immune response changes with age, providing valuable information for tailoring health strategies for different age groups.

University of MelbourneDr Carolien van de Sandt, a Senior Research Fellow at the Doherty Institute and co-author of the study, said that this research gives valuable insights into age-related immune responses to influenza B viruses.

As we age, our immune system responds differently to the flu, said Dr van de Sandt.

While we detected killer T cells that recognize influenza B viral fragments across the human lifespan, from young children to the elderly, those T cell responses substantially peaked in adults. This may help explain why this particular age group is protected from severe influenza B infections.

Our findings also showed that killer T cells that recognize influenza B viruses have a very good memory, but are not as numerous in elderly people and children. This is fascinating, as children have a higher burden from influenza B than adults and the elderly.

Professor Kedzierska explained that the clinical implications of the study are substantial, and the research presents the first step toward the development of new T cell-based influenza B vaccines.

The influenza B viral T cell targets that we have found could be included in new T cell-based vaccines, which could significantly reduce severe cases and death caused by influenza B, especially in children, and alleviate the burden of seasonal influenza epidemics.

Katherine Kedzierska,Professor, University of Melbourne

Current influenza vaccines primarily rely on antibodies that target specific strains, necessitating frequent updates due to mutations in the virus. However, the study suggests exploring T cell-based vaccine strategies, highlighting their potential to provide broad immune protection across all variants of influenza B viruses for various age groups.

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New study offers promising targets for universal influenza B vaccine - News-Medical.Net

The scientist who led the efforts to develop Chinas first anti-Covid vaccine has now been expelled from the parliament and is facingseriouscharges, reported Hong-based media outlet South China Morning Post.

Yang Xiaoming is a veteran researcher and former chairman of China National Biotec Group, a vaccine subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm. It was only under his leadership that China developed Sinopharms BBIBP-CorV vaccine, Chinas first coronavirus shot.

Chinas National Peoples Congress (NPC) on Friday (Apr 26) said in a statement that hewas removedfor alleged serious violations of discipline and law.

An investigation has alreadybeen launchedagainst the 62-year-old scientist by the party disciplinary body, SCMP reported.

Sinopharms BBIBP-CorV vaccine was one of the most used vaccines in the country andwas exportedto at least 112 nations.Lateron, it causedhugeembarrassment for the Chinese government asquestions were raisedoverthe vaccines efficacy.

The action against Yang Xiaoming comes amidst an ongoing crackdown against corruption in Chinas health sector by President Xi Jinping.

WATCH: Tornado in China: Five killed & 140 factory buildings damaged in tornado

The crackdownisspecificallytargetinghospitals, drug companies and insurance funds, which also resulted in the arrest of several hospital chiefs last year.

The campaign is an extension of Xis 2012 anti-corruption drive.

Yang Xiaoming is a big name in Chinas vaccine development industry.In past, he served as a chief engineer andchiefscientist at Sinopharm.

He is also serving as the chief scientist of the vaccine project under Chinas national 863 programme.

The COVID-19 vaccine developed under his leadership was approved for use in December 2020, which also got the nod from the World Health Organization (WHO) for international use.

In a 2021 interview, Xiaoming had described his vaccine as a miracle, developed in a record time of just 330 days.

Earlier, he was rewarded forhis role infighting the pandemic and was given a national award in September 2020.

(With inputs from agencies)

Geopolitical writer at WION, follows Indian foreign policy and world politics, a truth seeker.

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Scientist who developed China's first vaccine now facing disciplinary charges, expelled from parliament - WION

BATON ROUGE - A group fighting against anti-vaccination legislation protested at the Capitol on Monday.

The nonprofit group Louisiana Families for Vaccines is hoping six of the 13 proposed bills will not become law. Group leaders said some of the bills would prohibit the requirement of vaccines in schools, ban COVID-19 vaccine requirements and require blood donors to disclose their vaccination status. Protest organizers said these bills are spreading mistruths.

"Ultimately, disinformation is deadly and it deserves no hospitality of the legislature floor," vaccine advocate Crystal Rommen said. "A lot of the legislation that we're seeing come through the House and the Senate are trying to limit access to vaccines. We see things that are based in misinformation."

One bill, HB 866, will allow for individuals to submit vaccine exemptions to allow them access into any public facility regardless of their vaccination status.

"Louisiana has one of the broadest vaccination exemption policies in the nations. We have non-medical exemptions including religious and philosophical. Of course, we also have medical exemptions for people who truly can't be vaccinated," Rommen said.

Pediatrician Mikki Bouquet says the legislature should be recommending vaccines to promote a healthier state.

"We need strong public policies that are evidence-based that state vaccines are safe, effective and healthy," Bouquet said.

HB 288, which would require autopsy reports for infants include immunization records, failed to pass.

The following bills are still making their way through the legislature:

- Allow unvaccinated students to remain in class with immunocompromised students during an outbreak (HB 908) - Require teenagers to have parental consent for immunizations (HB 711) - Prohibit businesses, schools and government entities from requiring COVID-19 vaccines or masks (HB 87) - Prohibit schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccines (HB 46) - Require blood donors to disclose vaccination status (HB 822) - Prohibit Louisiana from using CDC Public Health recommendations (HB 809)

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Nonprofit organization "Louisiana Families for Vaccines" voice concerns over proposed bills - WBRZ

Cotonou/Freetown/Monrovia In a significant step forward for malaria prevention in Africa, three countriesBenin, Liberia and Sierra Leonetoday launched a large-scale rollout of the life-saving malaria vaccine targeting millions of children across the three West African nations. The vaccine rollout, announced on World Malaria Day, seeks to further scale up vaccine deployment in the African region.

Todays launch brings to eight the number of countries on the continent to offer the malaria vaccine as part of the childhood immunization programmes, extending access to more comprehensive malaria prevention. Several of the more than 30 countries in the African region that have expressed interest in the vaccine are scheduled to roll it out in the next year through support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as efforts continue to widen its deployment in the region in coordination with other prevention measures such as long-lasting insecticidal nets and seasonal malaria chemoprevention.

Benin, which received 215 900 doses, has added the malaria vaccine to its Expanded Programme on Immunization. The malaria vaccine should be provided in a schedule of 4 doses in children from around 5 months of age.

The introduction of the malaria vaccine in the Expanded Programme on Immunization for our children is a major step forward in the fight against this scourge. I would like to reassure that the malaria vaccines are safe and effective and contribute to the protection of our children against this serious and fatal diseases, said Prof Benjamin Hounkpatin, Minister of Health of Benin.

In Liberia, the vaccine was launched in the southern Rivercess County and will be rolled out afterwards in five other counties which have high malaria burden. At least 45 000 children are expected to benefit from the 112 000 doses of the available vaccine.

"For far too long, malaria has stolen the laughter and dreams of our children. But today, with this vaccine and the unwavering commitment of our communities, healthcare workers and our partners, including GAVI, UNICEF and WHO, we break the chain. We have a powerful tool that will protect them from this devastating illness and related deaths, ensuring their right to health and a brighter future. Let's end malaria in Liberia and pave the way for a healthier, more just society," said Dr Louise Kpoto, Liberias Minister of Health.

Two safe and effective vaccines RTS,S and R21 recommended by World Health Organization (WHO), are a breakthrough for child health and malaria control. A pilot malaria vaccine programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi reached over 2 million children from 2019 to 2023, showing a significant reduction in malaria illness and a 13% drop in overall child mortality and substantial reductions in hospitalizations.

In Sierra Leone, the first doses were administered to children at a health centre in Western Area Rural where the authorities kicked off the rollout of 550000 vaccine doses. The vaccine will then be delivered in health facilities nationwide.

With the new, safe and efficacious malaria vaccine, we now have an additional tool to fight this disease. In combination with insecticide-treated nets, effective diagnosis and treatment, and indoor spraying, no child should die from malaria infection, said Dr Austin Demby, Minister of Health of Sierra Leone.

Malaria remains a huge health challenge in the African region, which is home to 11 countries that carry approximately 70% of the global burden of malaria. The region accounted for 94% of global malaria cases and 95% of all malaria deaths in 2022, according to the World Malaria Report 2023.

The African region is advancing in the rollout of the malaria vaccine a game-changer in our fight against this deadly disease, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. Working with our member states and partners, were supporting the ongoing efforts to save the lives of young children and lower the malaria burden in the region.

Aurelia Nguyen, Chief Programme Officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, noted: Today we celebrate more children gaining access to a new lifesaving tool to fight one of Africas deadliest diseases. This introduction of malaria vaccines into routine programmes in Benin, Liberia, and Sierra Leone alongside other proven interventions will help save lives and offer relief to families, communities and hard-pressed health systems.

Progress against malaria has stalled in these high-burden African countries since 2017 due to factors including climate change, humanitarian crises, low access to and insufficient quality of health services, gender-related barriers, biological threats such as insecticide and drug resistance and global economic crises. Fragile health systems and critical gaps in data and surveillance have compounded the challenge.

To put malaria progress back on track, WHO recommends robust commitment to malaria responses at all levels, particularly in high-burden countries; greater domestic and international funding; science and data-driven malaria responses; urgent action on the health impacts of climate change; harnessing research and innovation; as well as strong partnerships for coordinated responses. WHO is also calling attention to addressing delays in malaria programme implementation.

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Major step in malaria prevention as three West African countries roll out vaccine - WHO | Regional Office for Africa

Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an appearance onReal Time with Bill Maher on Friday, pushing back on claims that he is anti-vaccine.

Maher began the segment by pressing Kennedy on running mate Nicole Shanahan, who spoke out against the Moderna vaccine.

Shes not gonna . . . I think those vaccines need to . . . We need to have, again, true double blind placebo control trials, Kennedy struggled to explain.

Notably, the results of a phase III double-blind clinical trial of the Moderna vaccine were published in 2021.

Kennedy went on to discuss vaccine skepticism in the American public, possibly fueled by claims he made, saying,Theres 25% of Americans who believe that they know somebody who was killed by a COVID vaccine.

Its true that a 2023 poll concluded that 34% of Americans believe COVID vaccines have contributed to deaths. Although, beyond their initial FDA clearance, multiple studies have shown that COVID vaccines are safe.

Kennedy then spouted a debunked claim that those who took the Pfizer vaccine in a clinical trial saw a 23% increase in death rate.

Maher, who said he himself was an early skeptic, touted the effectiveness of the vaccine in response to Kennedys and, eventually, the twocame to an agreement, with Maher arguing for mak[ing] it a case by case basis.

The pairs shared agita with vaccine mandates is in contrast with scientists, who hold that a large threshold of populations must be vaccinated for them to be maximally effective.

Im not anti-vaccine, Kennedy said. Im called that because its a way of silencing me.

Kennedys long history of vaccine skepticism was reported on in a 2005 article originally published by Salon, in which he argued that a link between compounds in vaccines and autism existed. The article was retracted after evidence suggesting critical errors and potential fraud in the cited studies emerged.

Watch RFK Jr. on "Real Time" here:

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RFK Jr. repeats debunked vaccine claims in interview with Bill Maher - Salon

The world has become a much safer place to be a young child in the last 50 years. Since 1974, infant mortality worldwide has plummeted. That year, one in 10 newborns died before reaching their first birthday. By 2021, that rate had fallen by over two-thirds.

A lot of factors drove this change: lower poverty and better nutrition, cleaner air and water, and readily available antibiotics and other treatments. But one of the biggest contributors, a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO) concludes, was vaccines.

Vaccines alone, the researchers find, accounted for 40 percent of the decline in infant mortality. The paper authored by a team of researchers led by WHO epidemiologist and vaccine expert Naor Bar-Zeev estimates that in the 50 years since 1974, vaccines prevented 154 million deaths.

Of that 154 million, 146 million lives saved were among children under 5, including 101 million infants. Because the averted deaths were so concentrated among young people, who on average would go on to live for 66 years, vaccines gave their beneficiaries an astounding 9 billion additional years of life.

The paper was commissioned on the 50th anniversary of the WHOs Expanded Programme on Immunization, which launched in 1974 to build on the success of the agencys work eradicating smallpox. It covers a critical period of time. The previous decades had seen a spree of important, newly developed vaccines: a joint diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccine in 1948, a polio vaccine in 1955, a measles vaccine in 1963. While rolled out quickly in wealthy countries, these immunizations were, as of 1974, not broadly available in the Global South, even as the diseases they prevented wreaked massive damage.

Over the ensuing half-century, through vaccination campaigns led by the WHO and later Gavi (a multilateral group formerly called the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), that changed radically. In sub-Saharan Africa in 2021, 68 percent of 1-year-olds received a first dose of the measles vaccine, 78 percent received the tuberculosis vaccine, and 7071 percent received the vaccines against hepatitis B, polio, and diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis.

This progress yielded massive gains. The measles vaccine, in particular, deserves pride of place in this story. The researchers conclude that it averted 93.7 million deaths from 1974 onward, accounting for the most deaths averted by vaccines in general. In terms of lives saved, the runners-up tetanus (28 million saved), pertussis (13.2 million), and tuberculosis (10.9 million) pale in comparison. Stamping out measles through vaccination enabled it to go from an omnipresent, fast-spreading lethal threat to a relic of the past though anti-vaccine activists threaten to undo some of that progress.

The data is a reminder that vaccines have historically been one of our best tools for saving lives and that redoubling efforts to discover and distribute new ones for diseases like malaria and tuberculosis could have a similarly transformative effect.

Studying the effect of vaccines across all continents, and across a 50-year time frame, is a daunting project. Its not for nothing that this paper has 21 authors. (And lets give them the credit theyre due. They are: Andrew Shattock, Helen Johnson, So Yoon Sim, Austin Carter, Philipp Lambach, Raymond Hutubessy, Kimberly Thompson, Kamran Badizadegan, Brian Lambert, Matthew Ferrari, Mark Jit, Han Fu, Sheetal Silal, Rachel Hounsell, Richard White, Jonathan Mosser, Katy Gaythorpe, Caroline Trotter, Ann Lindstrand, Katherine OBrien, and Naor Bar-Zeev.)

The paper is essentially combining three separate kinds of data and research results:

Put simply: They used what we know about how many people got vaccinated in the last five decades and how well vaccines work to construct a version of history where all that vaccination didnt occur, and adjusted actual death rates and health statistics accordingly.

This necessarily involves filling in some gaps in the data. They note that in many countries, our data on vaccine coverage starts in 1980, not 1974; in these places, they argue that vaccine coverage was so meager that assuming no coverage in 1974 and a steady increase thereafter is appropriate. They also conduct sensitivity analyses showing that other ways of handling this problem produce similar headline results.

The years of health life data allows another vantage point on gains from vaccination. Some diseases, like polio, are less lethal than the likes of measles but can cause lifelong negative health impacts, up to and including muscle paralysis. (For instance, while many doctors no longer think Franklin Delano Roosevelts paralysis was due to polio, it easily could have been.)

Any way you slice the data, vaccines saved a ton of lives and prevented a ton of suffering.

The past few years have been wonderful for vaccination, mostly due to the tremendously positive impact of the rapidly developed Covid-19 vaccines, but also somewhat perilous. In the US, the share of adults saying all children should be vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella has fallen, specifically among Republicans, a likely aftershock of how polarized the Covid vaccine issue has gotten. In that context, its important to remember just how much immunization has given us. In a half-century, its given people 9 billion additional years to live their lives. Thats nothing short of miraculous.

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How many lives have vaccines saved? New WHO study comes out with breathtaking estimate. - Vox.com