Fact Check: Yes, COVID-19 Vaccines Were Sold to the Public Based on Lies

Introduction

On October 10, 2022, during testimony before a committee of the European Parliament, Pfizer’s president of international developed markets, Janine Small, speaking on behalf of Pfizer President Albert Bourla, was asked whether the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID‑19 vaccine had been tested before marketing to determine whether it would stop transmission of SARS‑CoV‑2, the coronavirus that causes COVID‑19. She replied, “No. We had to really move at the speed of science to really understand what is taking place in the market.”

While this statement has generated significant attention as an “admission” that the clinical trials were not designed to determine the vaccine’s effectiveness against infection and transmission of the virus, it is not news. Many observers, myself included, have pointed out from the start that the trials for both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines were not designed to determine this. Instead, the measured outcome was one or more symptoms of COVID‑19-like illness plus a positive PCR test.

The fact that so many people have viewed Bourla’s statement as revelatory reflects the general lack of knowledge among the public that the trials were not designed to answer the question of whether the vaccines would prevent transmission, which misunderstanding is no surprise given how the vaccines were sold to the public on the grounds that they would stop transmission and thereby end the pandemic by creating herd immunity.

On October 18, FactCheck.org published a “fact check” article titled “It’s Not News, Nor ‘Scandalous,’ That Pfizer Trial Didn’t Test Transmission”. The article takes issue with online news and social media posts characterizing the Pfizer official’s testimony as a scandalous admission. “The clinical trials did not assess if the vaccine could reduce transmission, and neither the companies nor the government ever claimed they did.”

This objection, however, is deceptive since it overlooks the fact that both pharmaceutical representatives and government officials did claim that the vaccines would stop transmission as though that had been demonstrated in clinical trials. FactCheck.org sets out to gaslight us by refusing to acknowledge that fact. The closest it comes to an acknowledgment is to say, “To be fair, some officials have overstated the transmission protection provided by the vaccines.”

My purpose here is to simply set the record straight. The fact is that the vaccines were in fact sold to the public based on the lie that two doses would provide durable sterilizing immunity that would stop transmission and bring the COVID‑19 pandemic to an end by conferring herd immunity.