Fact Check-Canadian outlet Global News did not report that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine recorded a 12% efficacy rate
Canadian media outlet Global News did not publish a headline reporting that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine had only a 12% efficacy rate during clinical trials. The image is digitally altered and was never published by the outlet.
The Global News banner is visible at the top of the image, and the supposed headline reads: “Pfizer clinical trial data reveals the company’s COVID vaccine has a 12% efficacy rate.” The sub-headline reads: “Despite claims from Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and countless public health officials that the efficacy of the vaccine was nearly 100%, the findings of the company’s clinical trial data show it was less than 12%.”
One iteration of the image shared via Twitter had gathered more than 28,000 likes and 12,500 shares at the time of writing ( here ). An archived version of the tweet can be viewed ( archive.ph/wip/SxtkU ).
A user who shared the fabricated headline on Facebook said: “Would big pharma lie?? Well they had to publish their data. But the media will not report it!!” ( here ).
Another individual said: “Now that this information has made its way to MSM, is it no longer a conspiracy theory?” ( here ).
Other examples of the claim shared on social media can be found ( here ), ( here ), ( here ), ( here ) and ( here ).
A spokesperson for Global News told Reuters that no such headline was published by the outlet.
“We can confirm that the headline and caption in question were never published on our site and they are falsely associated with the Global News brand,” the spokesperson for Global News told Reuters.
A search on the outlet’s website did not show any such headline reported by Global News ( archive.ph/wip/LvNRj ).
A Twitter advanced search did not reveal the article published via Global News Twitter accounts (@globalnews, @GlobalBC, @Globalnewsto) ( archive.ph/wip/DavLL ).
A Google advanced search similarly did not reveal the article published by any media outlet ( archive.ph/wip/5VPdc ).
Reuters previously addressed the claim that documents released by Pfizer prove that the company’s vaccine only recorded a 12% efficacy rate during clinical trials. The claim likely stems from a Substack article which miscalculated the efficacy rate by using a figure of “suspected but unconfirmed” cases rather than “confirmed” cases which were firmed up through PCR testing ( here ).
The screenshot is an example of imposter content which is a piece of content such as an image or video which imitates a legitimate organization such as a news outlet to push a misleading or false narrative.
Reuters has previously addressed imposter content shared online which duped users ( here ), ( here ), ( here ).
VERDICT
Altered. Canadian outlet Global News did not report that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine measured an efficacy of 12% during clinical trials. The image is digitally altered and was not published by the outlet.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
