As the spring saw another surge of coronavirus cases across the country, healthcare officials are urging people to get vaccinated. But some social media posts are spreading false claims that the Pfizer vaccine is both ineffective and dangerous.
"Pfizer data released today. 80,000 pages. Pfizer knew vaccine harmed the fetus in pregnant women, and that the vaccine was not 95% effective," reads an Instagram post shared May 4. "Pfizer data shows it having a 12% efficacy rate."
These claims were made two days after more than 80,000 pages of Pfizer COVID data was made public. The data was released as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, according to Abigail Capobianco, a spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration
The post generated over 4,000 likes in less than a week – but has since apparently been deleted. Similar claims have amassed hundreds of interactions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
But the claim is wrong on multiple fronts.
USA TODAY could not verify whether the claimed 12% efficacy rate was in the 80,000 pages Pfizer released. None of the social media claims have provided documentation showing that figure. But multiple experts told USA TODAY the claims about the vaccine's low efficacy rate stem from misinterpretations of Pfizer's 2020 phase three clinical trial.
The trial actually showed an efficacy rate of 95%. Extensive Pfizer research studies...
Tulsi Gabbard's office has denied reports that explosive files on the United States' so-called mind control experiment, MKUltra, and the tragic assassination of former president John F Kennedy wer...