By: Natasha Archary
Pfizer has admitted to lying about the Covid-19 vaccine efficacy, and confirmed that the jabs were not tested prior to public use.
The admission was made to the European Parliament but the pharmaceutical company said posts about the admission was taken out of context.
Pfizer said the efficacy of the vaccine in terms of transmission wasn’t tested, not the safety of the vaccine itself.
Listen to the analysis on Point of View here:
Janine Small, president of international markets at Pfizer said, “No. We had to really move at the speed of science to really understand what is taking place in the market.”
She went on to explain why Pfizer moved quickly to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Small said because the virus was spreading globally at such an alarming rate, testing whether the Pfizer jabs were efficient against person to person transmission wasn’t high on the agenda.
On Monday, 13 February, the hashtag #PfizerLiedPeopleDied trended on social media.
Pfizer said the company never claimed the clinical trial, which the vaccine was authorised for use, evaluated the jab’s effect on transmission.
According to the company, shortly before the vaccine’s release, the company’s CEO emphasized that this was still being evaluated.
The company provided the following information, “the vaccine provided 95% protection against contracting symptomatic Covid-19 in people 16 and older.”
It was also unclear whether vaccinated individuals could carry the virus and transmit it to others.
Speaking to eNCA, vaccinologist, Shabir Madhi said, “We need to be careful how we interpret what was said, so the vaccine was evaluated to determine whether or not it protected against symptoms of Covid-19.
The vaccine studies weren’t designed to determine whether the vaccine would prevent transmission of the virus. However, clinical trials did show that the vaccine was able to reduce the seriousness of the symptoms, especially for the first virus that was circulating.”
Meanwhile ABPI president, a Novo Nordisk exec, stepped down last week after the company breached code regulations.
Also read: AKA’s body arrives in Johannesburg



