Morocco Ordered to Pay $25,000 for AstraZeneca Vaccine Side Effects

The Moroccan state has been ordered to pay 250,000 DH to a university professor who was a victim of side effects related to the AstraZeneca vaccine. The judgment was handed down at first instance in February, reports Médias24 and Hespress. The Administrative Court of Rabat had been seized in June 2022. According to Dr. Tayeb Hamdi, a physician and researcher in health policies and systems, the compensation is necessary. "Yes, without a doubt. These victims should first be taken care of quickly and properly, and if sequelae persist, they must be compensated or their families. Compensation serves to restore patients’ rights through amicable procedures or through the courts," he explains. "Epidemiological statistical data and the general context could be sufficient in the absence of formal scientific evidence of causality between the administration of the vaccine and the occurrence of the adverse effect."

On Wednesday, AstraZeneca announced that it was withdrawing its Covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria, one of the first to be marketed during the pandemic, due to the drop in demand. The British pharmaceutical giant had been criticized for the side effects of its vaccine. Dr. Tayeb Hamdi says that AstraZeneca has acknowledged that its vaccine could in very rare cases cause an adverse effect, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Syndrome (TTS). "This adverse effect has been known for 3 years. When it occurs in very rare cases, it is within 2 to 3 weeks after the administration of the vaccine and not months or years later. Serious adverse effects are very rare and are common to all medicines and all vaccines without exception," the expert further explains, adding that the benefit-risk balance of all Covid vaccines is always in favor of vaccines that have saved lives and continue to do so.

He also emphasizes: "The very rare cases of serious adverse effects of vaccination are in several cases between 10 to 100 times less than the occurrence of these same incidents in the event of the disease prevented by these vaccines."