Pfizer CEO calls people who spread vaccine misinformation ‘criminals’

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Tuesday described people who spread false information about the coronavirus vaccines as “criminals.”

“Those people are criminals,” Bourla said to Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe, CNBC reported. “They’re not bad people. They’re criminals because they have literally cost millions of lives.”

Bourla said a “very small” group of people has been spreading misinformation about the vaccines.

Bourla’s comments come after a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll found that 8 in 10 Americans believe or are unsure of at least one false statement about COVID-19.

“Belief in COVID-19 misinformation is correlated with both vaccination status and partisanship, with unvaccinated adults and Republicans much more likely to believe or be unsure about false statements compared to vaccinated adults and Democrats,” the poll said.

Millions in the United States have yet to be vaccinated despite the fact the COVID-19 vaccines have been available to people above the age of 12 for months. 

“The only thing that stands between the new way of life and the current way of life is, frankly, hesitancy to vaccinations,” Bourla said.

The KFF poll found 17 percent of people think pregnant women shouldn’t get the vaccine, 18 percent believe deaths from the vaccines are hidden by the government and 38 percent believe the government is exaggerating how many people died from the virus.