AstraZeneca admits in court documents that COVID-19 vaccine could cause serious rare side effect

British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca admitted in court documents for the first time that its COVID-19 vaccine could cause a rare blood-clotting side effect. 

The company is facing accusations that its vaccine contributed to the deaths or impairments of more than 50 people in the United Kingdom whose family are suing the pharmaceutical company. One claimant named Jamie Scott alleged the vaccine caused a permanent brain injury after a blood clot traveled to his brain. Scott claims he can no longer work because of the injury. 

AstraZeneca has denied the allegations, but admitted in documents filed in February that the vaccine can cause a complication called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts.

“It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known," the company said in the filing, per the Telegraph. “Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence.”

Family members celebrated the admittance, but said it was a long time coming, because other scientists have found a connection between COVID-19 vaccines and the blood-clotting side effect since 2021. Blood clots from the vaccine are called "vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis," (VITT) which lawyers claim is a subset of TTS.

“The medical world has acknowledged for a long time that VITT was caused by the vaccine," Scott's wife Kate Scott told the Telegraph. “It’s taken three years for this admission to come. It’s progress, but we would like to see more from them and the Government. It’s time for things to move more quickly.

"I hope their admission means we will be able to sort this out sooner rather than later," she continued. "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.”

The victims and relatives are seeking damages that are estimated to be worth around $125 million total, according to the New York Post. Because of a deal between AstraZeneca and the British government during the pandemic, British taxpayers will pay for any damages from the lawsuits rather than the pharmaceutical company.