CLAIM: Pfizer has acknowledged in a statement it conducted “gain of function” research as part of its development of a vaccine and a separate medical treatment for COVID-19.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Experts said nothing in a recent statement by the company suggests it’s conducting research designed to make COVID-19 more harmful, as some social media users claim. The company said the research was being done to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine and the antiviral medication Paxlovid against new COVID variants.
THE FACTS: A statement released Jan. 27 by Pfizer in response to allegations it was conducting risky “gain of function” research triggered another round of false speculation against one of the top makers of COVID vaccines.
“So Pfizer just admitted to gain of function research on the corona virus and that government agents forced them to keep it secret. Now how y’all feel about that? Awake yet?” wrote a Facebook user.
Gain of function refers to scientific experiments that give an organism a new property or enhances an existing one. In the case of a virus such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, that could involve making it more harmful, or giving it the ability to transmit to other species.
But the company said no such things in its statement, stressing that its vaccine-related experiments are undertaken only after a new variant has been identified by public health authorities.
“This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing...
Hyderabad: BRS leader Aedla Sudhakar Reddy strongly criticised the statements of HYDRAA commissioner A.V. Ranganath regarding the status of Bathukammakunta. The official had claimed that the place...