Watch | In Davos, Pfizer CEO confronted by journalists over 'ineffective' Covid vaccine

Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer (CEO) of American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer who is in Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF), was confronted by two journalists on Wednesday (January 18) over the company's vaccine against Covid. The journalists, who work for Rebel News, posed several questions to Bourla about the vaccine and the Pfizer CEO ignored them.

Taking to Twitter, Rebel News shared a six-minute-long video of its journalists confronting Albert Bourla. Ezra Levant, one of the journalists said, "Mr Bourla, can I ask you – when did you know the vaccines did not stop transmission? How long did you know that before saying it publicly?"

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To this, the Pfizer CEO replied, "Thank you very much." Levant then posed a follow-up question about why Pfizer kept a secret about vaccines not stopping transmission (of Covid). "You said it was 100% effective, then 90%, then 80%, then 70%, but we now know that the vaccines do not stop transmission. Why do you keep that secret?" Levant asked and Albert Bourla ignored the question and told the journalist to have a nice day.

The second journalist Avi Yemini, accused Bourla of making millions on the backs of people's entire livelihoods. "Is it time to apologise to the world, sir? To give refunds to the countries that borrowed their money into a vaccine that doesn’t work. An ineffective vaccine. Are you not ashamed of what you’ve done in the last couple of years?" Yemini asked only to get no response from Bourla.

The two journalists also questioned the Pfizer CEO over how much money he made from the vaccine and about his secret meeting in Davos.

This confrontation comes a day after Pfizer announced that it would expand the number of medicines and vaccines that it sells on a not-for-profit basis to the world's poorest countries. During the WEF meeting, Pfizer said it would begin offering at cost 45 low-income nations. The American pharmaceutical giant said this expansion would help address the "disease burden and unmet patient needs" of 1.2 billion people living in these 45 nations.

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Previously, Pfizer had offered 23 of its patented drugs to poor countries on a not-for-profit basis. Now, it would include off-patent medicines, bringing the total number of products on offer to around 500, according to a report by the news agency AFP. This move is part of an initiative known as "An Accord for a Healthier World" which was announced in Davos last year.

"The Accord portfolio offering now includes both patented and off-patent medicines and vaccines that treat or prevent many of the greatest infectious and non-communicable disease threats faced today in lower-income countries," Pfizer said on Tuesday.

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