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Pfizer accused of ‘sabotaging’ AstraZeneca jab
6 Dec, 2021 22:31
© Reuters/Dado Ruvic
US drugsmaker Pfizer is denying any wrongdoing after a British TV documentary showed that a presentation made on its behalf had criticized a rival Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca as being potentially unsafe.
Teasers for a Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ investigative program, shown on Monday, say a Pfizer presentation described AstraZeneca’s vaccine against Covid-19 as unsafe for patients with compromised immune systems and as having the potential to cause cancer. The speech was delivered in Canada sometime last year, but it was unclear whether it was a one-off event or the speaker had made the claim multiple times. The program, titled ‘Vaccine Wars: The Truth About Pfizer’, airs on Friday.
Pfizer responded to say the presentation had been “wrongly attributed” to it and had been delivered by a third party.
“We refute any suggestion that Pfizer has sought to undermine others’ scientific endeavors,” a company spokesman told the Daily Mail. “Our priority has always been getting high-quality, well-tolerated and effective vaccines to patients all over the world as quickly as possible and to help put an end to this deadly pandemic.”
The spokesperson explained that Pfizer had paid a third-party agency to create an educational program about vaccines in Canada, after the government in Ottawa had approved Pfizer’s product for use in the country.
‘Dispatches’ said Pfizer’s manufacturing costs were just 76 pence ($1.01) per jab, but the company was charging the UK government £22 ($29.17) per dose – a 3,000% markup. Pfizer said the estimate was “grossly inaccurate” and did not account for the cost of clinical studies, “manufacturing on a massive scale,” and global distribution.
“Manufacturing on a massive scale,” invariably reduces the cost per unit, regardless of what is being made. Astra Zeneca also had clinical studies and global distribution costs and yet, could sell it for little more than 1/7th the cost of Pfizer's.
Astra Zeneca should sue Pfizer for the lies about the AZ vaccine being unsafe for patients with compromised immune systems and the potential to cause cancer, unless the accusations are true. Who knows who to believe in Big Pharma? Personally, I believe very little that comes from those sources.
AstraZeneca, which developed its jab in cooperation with the University of Oxford, has reportedly sold its vaccine at cost for £3.60 ($4.77), losing out on £21 billion ($27.84 billion) in potential revenue, while Pfizer has seen a windfall from the vaccines. However, the AstraZeneca jab has been dogged by reports of potentially fatal blood clots in certain populations, and the UK has since ordered twice as many Pfizer vaccines instead.
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Suspected ‘incubator’ of new Covid-19 strains identified
6 Dec, 2021 14:34
African nations cannot ramp up their vaccination rates fast enough without foreign help and may become “a perfect incubator for variants” of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a new report says.
The “extreme vaccine discrimination” leaves the 1.3 billion people living in Africa lagging behind in the global race to protect humanity against Covid-19. While wealthier nations are administering booster shots to their populations, in Africa, the full vaccination rate remains at less than 7%. Unless vaccine aid for the continent is boosted significantly, it will present a potential threat to the rest of the world in terms of new viral mutations.
The stern warning comes from the London-based Mo Ibrahim Foundation, as it published a new report on Monday detailing the challenges African nations are facing in their response to Covid-19.
I wonder if one or more Big Pharma companies underwrote this study? I would be surprised otherwise.
The vast majority of Africans are immune to Covid-19 because the lack a certain gene descended from Neanderthals. A few countries, like South Africa, lacks that immunity because of large influxes of Europeans and Asians.
The continent “might well become a perfect incubator for variants,” the charity said in a statement. “We know that if the virus is not efficiently defeated everywhere, it will continue to spread and mutate.”
Ensuring equitable and balanced access to vaccines is not just a matter of justice, even less of charity. It is a matter of global security and thus of shared interest.
Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecoms billionaire who chairs the Africa-focused nonprofit he founded, lamented the fact that “we continue to live with extreme vaccine discrimination, and Africa in particular is being left behind.”
He cited the recent discovery of the Omicron variant of concern, which was first identified by geneticists in South Africa, as an example of the harm that low vaccination rates in Africa pose to the world. Whether the mutation actually emerged on African soil remains undetermined by scientists.
The new report details various aspects of the fight against Covid-19 in Africa, from vaccine availability or the lack thereof, through lapses in identifying the precise toll of the disease, to the wider problems with healthcare and epidemic preparedness with which many African nations continue to grapple.
Man investigated for having 10 Covid-19 jabs in one day
11 Dec, 2021 14:59
A New Zealander has ended up under investigation after he allegedly got up to 10 Covid-19 vaccine shots in a single day, impersonating other people reluctant to get vaccinated for cash.
The bizarre over-vaccination story was first reported by the Stuff news website on Friday.
The unidentified man is believed to have visited several vaccination centers in a single day, receiving up to 10 shots. He was allegedly paid by people who wanted to have a Covid-19 vaccination on their record – but were reluctant to get jabbed. In New Zealand, people do not have to produce identification when receiving the vaccine, facilitating the bold scheme.
The incident was acknowledged by the country’s Ministry of Health, with Astrid Koornneef, the Covid-19 vaccine and immunization program group manager, confirming authorities were “aware of the issue.” The official, however, did not reveal where exactly the alleged scam took place.
“We are taking this matter very seriously. We are very concerned about this situation and are working with the appropriate agencies,” Koornneef told Stuff. “If you know of someone who has had more vaccine doses than recommended they should seek clinical advice as soon as practicable.”
Vaccine experts and immunologists rushed to condemn the enterprising man, warning such scams could be potentially harmful to those who pull them off. Vaccinologist and associate professor at the University of Auckland, Helen Petousis-Harris blasted such behavior as “unbelievably selfish.”
“We know that people have in error been given the whole five doses in a vial instead of it being diluted, we know that has happened overseas, and we know with other vaccines errors have occurred and there has been no long-term problems,” she told the NZ Herald.
The scheme was described as “silly and dangerous,” for both the man and those who paid him to get the shots, by Malaghan Institute director Graham Le Gros. While he was unlikely to die from receiving 10 shots in a single day, he certainly would have had a “really sore arm” from all the jabs, the immunologist said. Moreover, going well over the recommended dosage might also make a vaccine not work as well instead of creating a stronger immune response, he added.
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