May 8 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca ( AZN ) said on Tuesday it

had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine

due to a "surplus of available updated vaccines" since the

pandemic.

The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the

vaccine Vaxzevria's marketing authorizations within Europe.

"As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been

developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines," the

company said, adding that this had led to a decline in demand

for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or

supplied.

According to media reports, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has

previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes

side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.

The firm's application to withdraw the vaccine was made on

March 5 and came into effect on May 7, according to the

Telegraph, which first reported the development.

The Serum Institute of India (SII), which produced

AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) COVID-19 vaccine under the brand name Covishield,

stopped manufacturing and supply of the doses since December

2021, an SII spokesperson said.

London-listed AstraZeneca ( AZN ) began moving into respiratory

syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals

last year after a slowdown in growth as COVID-19 medicine sales

declined.