Covishield maker AstraZeneca withdraws its COVID-19 vaccine globally

AstraZeneca has initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine. "As multiple variant COVID-19 vaccines have been developed since the pandemic, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines," the company said on the decision. Earlier, Covishield maker AstraZeneca admitted that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts in rare cases.