Nondisclosure: COVID vaccine ad blitz sidestepped transparency rules
“A bun in the toaster oven,” a woman exclaims off-camera, handing an ultrasound image to family members who erupt into tearful emotion over the news. “Oh my God!”
The touching baby announcement video then gets down to business as text appears on the screen amidst the ongoing celebration, suggesting the best way to stay alive for this joyous birth is by becoming vaccinated against COVID-19. “Why will you get vaccinated? … Because some people you just want to meet in person.”
The evocative 2021 television spot was funded by Pfizer just as the pharmaceutical giant was rolling out its COVID-19 vaccine. The spot may have seemed like any other pharmaceutical advertisement. But there was something missing. The ad, and many others like it financed by vaccine manufacturers, did not include any of the typical disclaimers about risks associated with vaccines, nor any disclosures that they had not yet received Food and Drug Administration approval.
Although Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies were operating under a special Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) that allowed them to sell their COVID vaccines without going through the traditional testing and approval process, that authorization explicitly required vaccine ads to include a prominent warning that the medicines had not been fully tested for potential risks.
