On January 31, Facebook user anti-vaxxer Nina Marji shared the interview of Albert Bourla, the company Pfizer’s executive director, where he speaks about vaccination. According to the author of the post, the director of the company refuses the vaccine and says that vaccination isn’t recommended for him.
The description of the video alleging that the company Pfizer’s CEO refuses the vaccine and believes it to be not recommended for him is false. In reality, Albert Bourla says he has not been vaccinated yet since he is healthy, his age isn’t in the risk-group and he will wait for his turn.
Facebook user Nina Marji manipulatively shares the video of the company Pfizer’s executive director alleging that Albert Bourla refused the vaccination because it is not recommended for him. The foreign users also disseminated the aforesaid video with misleading descriptions on the social networks. AFP Fact Check prepared an article regarding this issue. Pfizer’s director was interviewed about the COVID-19 vaccine by CNBC where he urged people to trust the science and get vaccinated.
Extract from Albert Bourla’s interview is disseminated on Facebook. To the question about when he planned to get the vaccine, Pfizer’s director answered that sooner he can, he will. He explains that he’s in good health and doesn’t want to cut in line since his type isn’t recommended to get a vaccine yet.
Quote from Albert Bourla:
“The only sensitivity here is that I don’t want to have an example that I’m cutting the line. I’m 59 years old, in good health. I’m not working in the frontline, so my type isn’t recommended to get vaccination now.”
In December, Albert Bourla in an interview with CNN noted that he follows recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that, for now, prioritizes those groups he is not included in. According to the information of CDC, healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities will be vaccinated first, frontline essential workers (for example, firefighters, police officers) and people aged 75 years and older will be offered the vaccination next. The next in line will be people aged 65-74 years and only those people under the age of 65 who have underlying medical conditions.
On January 25, Albert Bourla uploaded the photo of his 84 years old father-in-law on Twitter who received his first dose of the vaccine.
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