UK - AstraZeneca pulls Covid vaccine after admitting potentially deadly rare side effect. The company says the decision is "commercial" and that the vaccine has been superseded by new inoculations. The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is set to be withdrawn after the pharmaceutical giant admitted it can cause a rare and potentially dangerous side effect. The company has voluntarily withdrawn its "market authorisation" in the European Union, a move which came into force on Tuesday. The vaccine was championed by the-then Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a "triumph for British science", being credited with saving more than six million lives. AstraZeneca said the vaccine - which is known as Vaxzevria - was no longer being manufactured or supplied and has since been superseded by updated vaccines that tackle new Covid variants. The firm said it was therefore a "commercial reason" to withdraw its use.