Last Updated on October 12, 2022
A top executive at Pfizer admitted Monday that the pharmaceutical giant never knew whether their mRNA COVID-19 vaccine would prevent the spread of the virus. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, in addition to other pharmaceutical executives and government leaders, claimed that the vaccines would prevent the spread of the virus when the jabs were initially rolled out in December 2020.
Janine Small, who serves as president of international development markets for Pfizer, testified before the European Parliament’s COVID-19 committee Monday on behalf of Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla. The Pfizer CEO was summoned by the committee, but he ultimately pulled out of the scheduled hearing.
Dutch Member of Parliament Rob Roos, a vocal opponent of Europe’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies, asked Small whether Pfizer could provide lawmakers with evidence it believed their mRNA vaccine would prevent transmission before heading to market.
“Was the Pfizer COVID vaccine tested on stopping the transmission of the virus before it entered the market?” Roos asked, according to TheBlaze. “If not, please say it clearly. If yes, are you willing to share the data with this committee?”
In response, the executive admitted that Pfizer did not know whether the vaccine would stop transmission before it was rolled out. “Regarding the question around, did we know about stopping immunization before it entered the market? No,” Small admitted.
“These, um, you know, we had to really move at the speed of science to really understand what is taking place in the market. And from that point of view, we had to do everything at risk,” she added.
A number of European nations — including France, Germany and the U.K. — required proof of vaccination for a number of everyday activities. Proof of vaccination was required to travel, enter public venues and seek certain medical procedures.
Roos, along with a handful of his colleagues in the European Parliament, was firmly opposed to vaccine passport programs. After the hearing, Roos stated that Pfizer’s admission nullified the entire legal basis for vaccine passports.
“If you don’t get vaccinated, you’re anti-social! This is what the Dutch prime minister and health minister told us. You don’t get vaccinated just for yourself, but also for others — you do it for all of society. That’s what they said,” Roos stated. “Today, this turns out to be complete nonsense.”
Roos said Small’s admission “removes the entire legal basis for the COVID passport. The COVID passport that led to massive institutional discrimination as people lost access to essential parts of society.”
“I find this to be shocking, even criminal,” Roos added.
The truth about the vaccine is coming out at last. pic.twitter.com/HQxv8wVu35
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) October 12, 2022
In the United States, Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine received emergency use authorization on December 11, 2020. It later received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval on August 23, 2021.
In granting an emergency use authorization to Pfizer in late 2020, the FDA wrote that there was no evidence that the vaccine prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person.
But when the vaccines were initially rolled out, a number of health and government leaders — including President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci — claimed the vaccine would stop the spread of COVID-19.
“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,” Biden said during a CNN town hall in July 2021. The president continued to claim that vaccinated individuals could not spread the virus until early 2022, repeatedly referring to the pandemic as “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
“This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Biden said in a December 2021 interview with an Ohio news station. “The unvaccinated. Not the vaccinated, the unvaccinated. That’s the problem. Everybody talks about freedom and not to have a shot or have a test. Well guess what? How about patriotism? How about making sure that you’re vaccinated, so you do not spread the disease to anyone else.”
After cases exploded to record numbers well after the mass vaccination campaign was underway, government leaders and health officials began to walk back their promises. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) maintains that COVID-19 vaccination significantly lowers the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death for infected individuals.
“Like all vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection. Some people who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations will get COVID-19 breakthrough infection,” the CDC says. “However, staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccinations means that you are less likely to have a breakthrough infection and, if you do get sick, you are less likely to get severely ill or die.”
Prior to the vaccine’s approval, Pfizer claimed that studies showed its vaccine was as much as 91.3% effective against COVID-19 and 100% effective in preventing infections.
800 participants enrolled in South Africa with 0 cases of #COVID19 observed in the vaccinated group. Of the cases observed the majority were confirmed to be of the B.1.351 lineage, the prevalent strain in South Africa.
— Albert Bourla (@AlbertBourla) April 1, 2021
