Pfizer responds to Trump’s call for Covid-19 vaccine data, says Operation Warp Speed deserves Nobel Peace Prize
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In response to a call from President Donald Trump to make the positive impact of Covid-19 vaccines public, drug giant Pfizer posted a collection of more than 200 news releases and statements and 27 peer-reviewed data publications since early 2020.
“President Trump's call for transparency is welcomed, and we remain deeply committed to that principle,” Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in a statement Wednesday. “Transparency has always been a cornerstone of trust, and we are continuing to provide clear, factual data to the public.”
On Monday, Trump implored drug companies to “justify the success of their various Covid drugs” in a post on Truth Social, writing “Many people think they are a miracle that saved millions of lives. Others disagree!”
The president claimed that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose director was ousted by the White House last week after she clashed with US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other top HHS officials, is “being ripped apart over this question.”
Trump called out Pfizer, the largest company making Covid-19 vaccines in the US, by name in the post, saying he'd been shown information from that company and others “that is extraordinary” but claiming “they never seem to show those results to the public.”
Pfizer said Wednesday that data on its Covid-19 vaccine has appeared in more than 600 peer-reviewed publications.
Moderna, the other maker of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines in the US, also weighed in Wednesday, noting that “extensive research” on its vaccine “has been published in hundreds of peer-reviewed publications and shared with regulators.”
Novavax, which makes a Covid-19 vaccine that uses more traditional protein-based technology rather than mRNA, noted that it has widely shared data and evidence on its shots in the US and around the world.
The companies also credited Trump for the success of Operation Warp Speed, the government initiative to develop vaccines in record time during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pfizer called it and the US development of mRNA vaccines “a profound public health achievement.” Novavax said the program “enabled the ingenuity of the American scientific community to come together to solve the most pressing public health issue of our lifetime,” and Moderna cited a Trump speech from December 2020 in which the president said, “we are the most exceptional nation in the history of the world. … American companies were the first to produce a verifiably safe and effective vaccine.”
Pfizer's Bourla said that “Under President Trump's leadership, American innovation led the world, helping prevent economic collapse and saving more than 14 million lives globally. Operation Warp Speed restored consumer confidence, saved over $1 trillion in health care costs due to reductions in serious illness and avoidance of hospitalizations, and rapidly scaled up domestic production.”
The initiative, Bourla pointed out, “also delivered a new platform that may drive significant innovation in cancer research,” referring to mRNA, the vaccine technology that enabled such rapid introduction of immunizations during the pandemic but is also showing promise in potentially helping treat cancer. “Such an accomplishment would typically be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, given its significant impact.”
The company, which partnered with biotech company BioNTech on its Covid-19 vaccine, pledged to post additional information and studies by the end of the month, as well as to share new data in the coming days about its latest vaccine update, newly approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
“We agree with President Trump about the role data and transparency play in helping to inform patients and providers about their decision to vaccinate,” Bourla said.
Moderna also said it would compile previously disclosed information about its vaccine and emphasized that “the promise of mRNA is immense. The same technology that helped turn the tide of a global pandemic is now paving the way for breakthroughs in cancer, autoimmune and rare diseases.”
Although the FDA did approve updated Covid-19 vaccines last week, the clearance is narrower than in previous seasons under the Biden administration. Kennedy's health officials approved the vaccines for people over the age of 65 and for younger people who have conditions putting them at high risk of severe illness but said anyone who wants a vaccine may still get one.
Public health experts pointed out, however, that the narrowed approval may make it more complex for some groups to access Covid-19 vaccines.