A claim that pharmaceutical company Pfizer has admitted to lying about testing the effectiveness of its Covid vaccine is still circulating on social media in South Africa. But this misrepresents what Pfizer said and the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing Covid-19 was thoroughly tested.
Did pharma company Pfizer admit to the European parliament that it had lied about testing the efficacy of its Covid vaccine before the jab was rolled out to the public?
That’s the claim in a news report by South African TV broadcaster eNCA that’s been getting social media attention since October 2022.
“Now Pfizer has admitted it lied about its Covid vaccine efficacy before it entered the market,” the news anchor begins the segment by saying. “It told the European parliament it was not tested before general public use.”
She adds: “This is raising concern as many took the vaccine hoping it will protect them.”
The anchor then asks for comment from Prof Shabir Madhi, a leading vaccinologist and dean of the health sciences faculty at Wits University in Johannesburg.
“I think we need to be careful how we interpret what was said,” Madhi begins. He then discusses the difference between how vaccines prevent Covid transmission and how they protect against “symptomatic Covid-19”.
But he doesn’t challenge the anchor’s initial statement: that Pfizer admitted to the European parliament that it had lied, and that its vaccine had not been tested.
In fact, the text “PFIZER ADMITS ITS JAB WAS NOT TESTED” is displayed on the screen throughout the segment. But this is not true.
In a recent incident, a statement made by a Pfizer executive during a European parliament hearing has been misinterpreted, leading to false claims that Pfizer lied about testing the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine. The incident has sparked widespread misinformation on social media platforms, with several TikTok videos questioning the credibility of the vaccine.
During the committee hearing held on October 10, 2022, Janine Small, President of International Developed Markets at Pfizer, was questioned by Rob Roos, a conservative MEP from the Netherlands. Roos inquired whether the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine had been tested for its ability to stop the transmission of the virus before it entered the market.
In response, Small, possibly misspeaking, stated, “Regarding the question about did we know about stopping immunisation before it was sent to the market – no,” followed by a laugh. It is most likely that she meant to say “transmission” instead of “immunisation,” as later acknowledged by Roos himself.
Read also: let’s take 3 minutes to review Fact-Checking
Small’s response, taken out of context, has been shared on conservative news sites and social media platforms, falsely portraying it as an admission that Pfizer had lied about testing the efficacy of its vaccine. However, this is a misinterpretation of her statement.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, known as Comirnaty, was developed to prevent the COVID-19 disease and severe illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It was not specifically designed to prevent the transmission of the virus between individuals. Consequently, the vaccine’s efficacy in reducing transmission was not tested during Pfizer’s clinical trial.
Nevertheless, subsequent studies conducted after the vaccine’s rollout have indicated that it has contributed to a reduction in virus transmission among healthcare workers.
It is essential to note that Pfizer did not admit to lying about testing the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine during the European parliament hearing. The misinterpretation of Small’s statement has led to false claims and misinformation circulating on social media platforms.
Misinformation regarding vaccines can have serious consequences, including undermining public trust and hindering efforts to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is crucial for individuals to rely on accurate and verified information from reputable sources when forming opinions or making decisions about vaccines and public health measures.
Pfizer remains committed to transparency and continues to work diligently to provide safe and effective vaccines to combat the global health crisis caused by COVID-19.
