Pfizer defends COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, says it saved 14 million lives

In a post on Truth Social, Trump asserted that he has seen “extraordinary” data from companies such as Pfizer, but criticized them for withholding results from the public and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A healthcare worker prepares a shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in La Paz, Bolivia. (AP Photo/ File)

Pfizer’s response to Trump

Pfizer was the first US pharma company to have an authorised COVID vaccine during Trump’s first term as President. The company had also developed Paxlovid, an antiviral medication used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.

Pfizer welcomed Trump’s demand for openness and pointed to a dedicated section on its website where clinical trial findings and safety updates are posted.

According to Pfizer, to date, information on its COVID-19 shot has appeared in over 600 peer-reviewed journals. The company said it will post additional information and studies by the end of the month.

Pfizer also said new information on its latest vaccine strain, recently cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration, will be published in the coming days.

Trump should get Nobel Prize: Pfizer CEO

CEO Albert Bourla praised Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s 2020 initiative to accelerate vaccine development, manufacturing and distribution, calling it a “profound public health achievement” under Trump’s leadership.

He said the program helped in averting over $1 trillion in healthcare costs, adding that such an accomplishment would “typically be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize”.

Kennedy vs CDC

Pfizer’s announcement comes amid escalating turmoil at the CDC. Last week, director Susan Monarez was fired less than a month into her tenure after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who was handpicked by Trump earlier this year.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins Governor Greg Abbott as he signs Make Texas Healthy Again legislation at the Capitol in Austin, Texas. (AP)

Her removal sparked the resignation of four senior CDC officials, who blamed the erosion of public health credibility.

Kennedy has also rescinded federal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and healthy children and halted about $500 million in funding across 22 mRNA vaccine research projects, including those targeting COVID-19.

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