A Pfizer executive told the European Union parliament this week that the company’s COVID-19 vaccine was not tested for the purpose of stopping transmission of the virus before it hit the market.
Janine Small, Pfizer’s president of international developed markets, testified before the EU Parliament’s Special Committee on COVID-19 Pandemic about the company’s conduct during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. During the hearing, Dutch MEP Robert Roos asked Small if COVID-19 vaccines had been tested for stopping transmission before they became available, Small answered “no.”
Watch as Pfizer executive Janine Small admits to EU parliament that Pfizer did not test the vaccine for preventing transmission of Covid prior to it being made available to the public.
Small says, “We had to really move at the speed of science..we had to do everything at risk.” pic.twitter.com/FvTn01zv3J
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“Regarding the question around, did we know about stopping immunization before it entered the market, no,” Small said. “We had to really move at the speed of science to really understand what is taking place in the market.”
The admission was notable because the primary rationale behind many vaccine mandates and passport systems was that getting vaccinated could protect other people, not just an individual getting vaccinated. If the vaccine wasn’t known for sure to limit transmission at the time it became available, governments and private organizations were acting with incomplete information critical to their decision-making process.
Early research indicated that COVID-19 vaccines offered by Pfizer and Moderna did have some effectiveness in stemming transmission of the virus. However, that efficacy was shown to wane over time, and declined with the arrival of new variants into circulation. The chief purpose of the vaccines, and what Pfizer tested theirs to do, was to prevent severe illness and death.
Small was also asked about Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who has claimed he wants the company to be fully transparent but did not show up to testify before the EU Parliament committee, according to Politico. (RELATED: Nobody Wants Biden’s Boosters — But He Forked Over Billions To Pfizer And Moderna For Them Anyway)
“Dr. Bourla actually felt the importance of what was going on in the world, and therefore as a result of that, we actually spent $2 billion at-risk of self-funded money from Pfizer to be able to research, develop and manufacture at risk, to be able to make sure that we were in a position to be able to help with the pandemic,” Small added.