DISINFO: The Pfizer vaccine could be a biological weapon
SUMMARY
The Pfizer vaccine could be a biological weapon and could be even more dangerous than Covid-19. The Pfizer vaccine could have previously undisclosed negative effects on health, such as ALS, Alzheimer and other degenerative neurological diseases.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about COVID-19 vaccination, aiming to discredit Western vaccines by claiming that such vaccines have serious negative side effects on human health. This narrative is part of a major pro-Kremlin propaganda campaign in support of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
The claim that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (Comirnaty) could be a biological weapon lacks any factual basis. It is one of many anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. There is also no evidence linking the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to Prion diseases or degenerative neurological disorders such as ALS or Alzheimer's, as the article claims.
The side effects of the vaccine have been assessed by the competent control bodies: the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Medicine Agency approved the vaccine in 2020, rating its efficacy at 94.6% in adults and 100% in the 12-16 age group. According to the EMA's official statement and the assessments of its Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC):
“EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has completed its rigorous evaluation of Comirnaty, concluding by consensus that sufficiently robust data on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine are now available to recommend a formal conditional marketing authorisation. [...] The most common side effects with Comirnaty were usually mild or moderate and got better within a few days after vaccination. They included pain and swelling at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills and fever”.
Here you can read a well-documented article on pro-Kremlin disinformation aimed at discrediting Western vaccines and especially the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine, as well as EUvsDisinfo’s in-depth analysis of these disinformation narratives about the negative effects of the Pfitzer/BioNTech vaccine.
The Pfitzer/BioNTech vaccine has never been linked by the competent control bodies to Prion diseases or neurodegenerative disorders. The article’s claim is based on an article that appeared in January 2021 article signed by J. Barten Classen, MD.
Classen's article, as well as his previous work, have been widely debunked by experts, including by the American Council on Science and Health, which stated that:
“Now, a new myth has reared its ugly head. A paper written by a well-known anti-vaxxer named J. Bart Classen and published in a scientific journal if we can even call it that (because it's not indexed in PubMed) claims that the mRNA vaccines that target coronavirus could cause prion diseases like Alzheimer's. It's total garbage”.
Further debunking of Classen's claims can be read here, here and here.
Read similar cases claiming that EU normally imposes tight regulation but not on the untested Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, that Pfizer may be silently discrediting its rivals while hiding its own failures, and that vaccines may have led to the beginning of the pandemic and could alter our DNA.