Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab said on Wednesday its COVID-19 vaccine has saved more than 14 million lives worldwide, after U.S. President Donald Trump urged pharmaceutical companies to justify the success of their pandemic drugs.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump asserted that he has seen “extraordinary” data from companies such as Pfizer, but criticized them for withholding results from the public and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pfizer welcomed Trump’s demand for openness and pointed to a dedicated section on its website where clinical trial findings and safety updates are posted.
CEO Albert Bourla praised Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government’s 2020 initiative to accelerate vaccine development, manufacturing and distribution, calling it a “profound public health achievement” under Trump’s leadership.
He said the program helped in averting over $1 trillion in healthcare costs, adding that such an accomplishment would “typically be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize”.
Pfizer’s announcement comes amid escalating turmoil at the CDC. Last week, director Susan Monarez was fired less than a month into her tenure after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who was handpicked by Trump earlier this year.
Her removal sparked the resignation of four senior CDC officials, who blamed the erosion of public health credibility.
Kennedy has also rescinded federal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and healthy children and halted about $500 million in funding across 22 mRNA vaccine research projects, including those targeting COVID-19.
He is set to testify before the Senate Finance Committee later this week, where lawmakers are expected to probe the CDC’s leadership crisis and ongoing policy shifts.
Pfizer also said new information on its latest vaccine strain, recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will be published in the coming days
