WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The CEO of BioNTech, which developed a COVID-19 vaccine with Pfizer, did not get vaccinated.
OUR VERDICT
False: CEO Ugur Sahin was vaccinated in January 2021 and claims he was unvaccinated stem from an interview conducted when he wasn't eligible.
AAP FACTCHECK – Social media users are continuing to falsely claim the CEO of a global biotech company hasn’t been vaccinated for COVID-19, despite the claim being debunked multiple times.
The latest claim was made in a New Zealand Instagram post that includes the caption: “THEY JUST TOOK THE PISS… Non (sic) of them took it.”
It includes a video of BioNTech CEO and cofounder Ugur Sahin who is asked why he hasn’t received the vaccine.
“I am legally not allowed to take the vaccine at the moment. We of course consider (sic) to make that possible. It is more important for us that our coworkers and partners get vaccinated,” he replies.
Prof Sahin is then asked why he can’t legally take the vaccine and he replies that he is not on the priority list for the vaccine rollout.
“The vaccine is not allowed to be taken outside of this priority list and what is also important, we were even not allowed to participate in clinical trials because per law it is not possible to include company people into such trials.”
The clip, however, was filmed before the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Germany in December 2020, and Prof Sahin was vaccinated about a month later.
German TV network DW News uploaded the interview from which the...
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