After weeks of deliberation, Pfizer was scolded by a U.K. pharmaceutical industry trade group after its chief executive officer made misleading statements in a media interview about the need to vaccinate young children against Covid-19.
The fracas began when the Pfizer chief, Albert Bourla, gave an interview to the BBC and discussed the idea of vaccinating children between five and 11 years old, a course of action that had not yet been approved by regulators in the U.K. And his remarks, which ran in December 2021, prompted a complaint from an advocacy group that argued Bourla was inappropriately touting Covid-19 vaccines.
Specifically, Bourla responded to questions about vaccinating kids by saying “there was no doubt, in my mind, that the benefits completely were in favor of doing it” and that “I believe it’s a very good idea.” The advocacy group, UsForThem, maintained his remarks were “disgracefully misleading” and “extremely promotional in nature.”
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