DISINFO: Pfizer may be silently discrediting its rivals while hiding its own failures
SUMMARY
Is Pfizer silently discrediting other vaccines while it hides its own failures? The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine arrived on the market in 2020 promoted as an extremely safe product. However, recent data on the vaccination campaign from all over the world may challenge Pfizer’s claims about secondary effects and deaths. From the first day, the Pfizer vaccine was highly praised by the main US, British and European media, who coincidentally didn’t hide their apparent bias against other vaccine producers. But after an optimistic launch, some doubts emerged about its safety, especially after the number of deaths - some of which may have been caused by the Pfizer vaccine - overcame similar data from other vaccines. Official statistics from 13 countries show 2,476 deaths among people who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which represents an average of 39.4 deaths for every million of injected doses. This is between three and five times more than deaths registered among those who received the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
RESPONSE
The claim that Pfizer may be silently discrediting other vaccines while hiding its own failures is a conspiracy theory not backed by any evidence. Affirmations about deaths caused by the Pfizer vaccine are based on flawed data, such as the use of the number of total deaths instead of vaccine-associated ones to calculate the rate of deaths for every million of injected doses (see here a detailed analysis and debunk by professor Carl T. Bergstrom). The claim about Western media bias against other vaccine producers, such as the Russian Sputnik V, is also a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative.
This disinformation message appeared amid a wave of false claims made by the developers of the Sputnik V vaccine aiming to discredit competitors, part of a long-term pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign about global vaccination.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that the West is waging a war against Sputnik V and Russian vaccines; that Pfizer directors sold their shares alarmed over vaccine’s deaths; that 29 people died in Norway after receiving the Pfizer vaccine; that the Moderna vaccine shouldn’t be trusted because nothing is known about the company; that the US vaccine genetically modifies humans; that the WHO and Microsoft sabotaged the Russian vaccine; or that the West criticises the Sputnik V because it can’t accept Russia’s primacy, and because its pharmaceutical companies will lose billions of dollars.
For an overview of the pro-Kremlin disinformation regarding Covid-19 vaccines see also here.