A widely circulated video clip shows a former Pfizer executive turned anti-vaccine activist claiming that the pandemic was orchestrated. One post sharing the clip has been viewed over 1.2 million times and has garnered over 64,000 engagements. The former executive has a long history of promoting COVID-19 misinformation, including claiming COVID-19 vaccines were 50 times more likely to kill children than the disease, lending him credibility in the anti-vaccine community.
The individual’s credentials and former position at Pfizer increase the risk of his claims. Debunking messaging may emphasize the source’s lack of credibility and history of promoting conspiracy theories. Messaging may also explain that there is no evidence to support the conspiracy theory that governments, pharmaceutical companies, or other influential stakeholders planned the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus that causes COVID-19 is part of the family of viruses behind multiple major disease outbreaks in the last 20 years.
