AAP FACTCHECK – Claims that Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said in a live television interview that COVID-19 vaccinations are “quite dangerous” are being spread online – although he never said it.
A viral post on Facebook claims the head of Pfizer, the company that manufactured the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine, accidentally admitted during an interview on CNBC in the US that COVID jabs “are quite dangerous”.
The claim is based on an article, to which post includes a link, published by The People’s Voice, a website frequently checked by AAP FactCheck.
The article begins with the statement: “Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla accidentally admitted on live television that Covid mRNA jabs ‘are quite dangerous’ to humans”.
However, the rest of the article fails to provide quotes to back up the claim in the headline and first paragraph, and no evidence is provided to support it.
Mr Bourla was interviewed by CNBC on January 14, the day the article was published, and the article provides a link to the interview on YouTube.
It runs for almost six minutes and covers a range of topics including Pfizer’s 2025 outlook, bird flu, confidence in vaccines and obesity drugs.
Mr Bourla does not say in the interview that COVID jabs are dangerous.
The interview begins at the 35 seconds mark of the video. The subject is Pfizer’s business strategy for 2025, following a statement by the CNBC anchor that the company’s shares were down “nearly eight per cent”.
From the 2 mins 40 secs mark, the interview shifts to bird flu and its potential to cause a pandemic.
At 3 mins 9 secs, CNBC anchor Brian Sullivan is introduced, and at 3 mins 25 secs he asks Mr Bourla, “How do we reinvigorate … confidence in vaccines generally, because we’re seeing some of the COVID vaccine concerns spill over now into other vaccines”.
Mr Bourla responds by saying, “I don’t think that … we have a reduction in the vaccination rates because they have concerns with the COVID vaccine.
“…They don’t feel compelled to do it because they don’t feel the need, because of course we have controlled COVID so far,” he says.
The interview then shifts away from vaccines to medications to treat obesity.
At no point in the interview does Bourla suggest that the vaccines are dangerous.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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