Juno News - October 25, 2022WHAT？ Reuters ＂fact checked＂ True North？
Episode Stats
Words per minute
183.57382
Summary
In this episode, we talk about the controversy surrounding the co-development of a new HIV/AIDS vaccine, CoVaccine, and whether or not it was tested on stopping transmission of the virus before it entered the market.
Transcript
00:00:02.180
So last week, True North shared this exchange from the European Parliament
00:00:06.380
between Dutch MEP Robert Roos and Janine Smoll of Pfizer.
00:00:12.940
So a question then for you, Ms. Smoll, where I would like a clear answer, please.
00:00:21.920
Was the Pfizer COVID vaccine tested on stopping the transmission of the virus
00:00:35.980
If yes, are you willing to share the data with this committee?
00:00:40.440
And I really want a straight answer, yes or no, and I'm looking forward to it.
00:00:47.660
Regarding the question around, did we know about stopping humanisation
00:00:55.300
These, you know, we had to really move at the speed of science
00:00:59.580
to really understand what is taking place in the market.
00:01:02.640
And from that point of view, we had to do everything at risk.
00:01:07.340
I think our Dr. Boodla, even though he's not here,
00:01:10.080
would turn around and say to you himself, if not us, then who?
00:01:14.060
Dr. Boodla actually felt the importance of what was going on in the world.
00:01:18.980
And therefore, as a result of that, we actually spent $2 billion at risk
00:01:26.260
of self-funded money from Pfizer to be able to manufacture as well.
00:01:31.760
First of all, research, develop and manufacture at risk to be able to make sure
00:01:35.960
that we were in a position to be able to help with the pandemic.
00:01:40.080
And I think that's why I feel very good when a recent paper from the Imperial College
00:01:46.420
stated that in the first year of the rollout of vaccines, we saved 4 million people.
00:01:54.560
So from that point of view, I feel that actually we were there when the world needed us
00:01:59.980
to be able to make sure that we were able to help people around the world with vaccination
00:02:08.440
I would hate to imagine what situation we would be in in the world right now
00:02:12.880
if companies like us did not take those risks, did not do clinical research and developments
00:02:19.100
at scale in order to make sure that we could have a vaccine that we could roll out to the world.
00:02:27.720
But I also hope at some point somewhere, you also do appreciate what pharmaceutical companies
00:02:33.200
have done in order to be able to roll out and deliver vaccines at such speed and scale.
00:02:40.980
It was Janine Small talking about how Pfizer moved at the speed of science,
00:02:45.320
which I believe is faster than the speed of sound, not quite as fast as the speed of light,
00:02:49.800
a little bit slower than Superman when he's had a heavy meal even.
00:02:53.320
But the executive was saying that Pfizer did not test against transmission.
00:02:59.000
So there was no scientific basis for the idea that the vaccine that Pfizer was putting out
00:03:04.100
for COVID would protect you against transmission, which means that the basis for vaccine passports,
00:03:11.280
which was that we need to make spaces more safe because we need to only ensure that the
00:03:18.960
It meant that that was a big, huge lie from politicians.
00:03:27.360
This is an elected official interviewing in an official capacity, an official from a company
00:03:33.760
that has done billions of dollars worth of work on the vaccine file around the world.
00:03:38.580
All of this is to say there is very little about this that is misinformation because we're
00:03:45.960
But that didn't stop Reuters from pouncing by putting a fact check here.
00:03:51.200
And not just that, but saying that True North specifically sharing this clip,
00:03:55.940
we weren't the only outlet that did, was a bit misinformed perhaps.
00:04:01.080
And so, Andrew, it's important to just kind of go through this process.
00:04:04.000
First off, True North often will not share content, videos that are not specifically
00:04:11.220
But when this video did come up originally, it was first posted by Rob Roos, that MEP,
00:04:17.140
And that video has over 13 million views on Twitter.
00:04:19.900
And immediately we realized that this kind of blows the lid off of the justification for
00:04:28.540
The idea that the vaccine would stop transmission.
00:04:31.560
That idea that we are told constantly this is to stop the spread of the virus.
00:04:35.400
Well, this testimony from the Pfizer executive in Europe kind of makes the case as though
00:04:41.240
actually no one really knew that to be the case.
00:04:44.240
So we posted it and I even went through, I posted it myself and I went to great lengths
00:04:49.160
to make sure that I wasn't just copying Rob Roos' video.
00:04:52.460
We went to the original source, the European Parliament sort of media center to get this
00:04:56.280
clip, making sure that what we were getting was 100% accurate.
00:05:00.060
And we don't just throw things up on social media.
00:05:06.760
And the Reuters fact check is important to go through.
00:05:08.980
You would think that a company like Reuters, with a fact check team like they have, they
00:05:14.480
would put together a, you know, if they were going to attack this video, they would try
00:05:18.500
and show the biggest video, the biggest tweets of the video, the tweets that got the most
00:05:33.860
And then they shared a tweet from someone with 18 likes, copying our video, which I
00:05:39.720
just thought to me was very, to me was very strange.
00:05:42.720
Like they're trying to make the case as though True North was somehow involved in this.
00:05:46.060
We, we basically did our own fact check of the fact checkers, which I think is quite
00:05:49.960
required these days, especially what we're getting from Reuters.
00:05:54.080
Hang on, I've got to call out your misinformation there, Harrison.
00:05:58.160
He has 21 likes on that tweet as of the time we're recording this.
00:06:02.660
So you're a Reuters, I'm, I'm sending Reuters to your front door for that.
00:06:12.620
But the, so in our, in our fact check of the Reuters fact check, what we found was
00:06:17.600
that actually immediately upon Reuters trying to basically label True North video as misleading,
00:06:23.960
Andrew, Twitter users from all across the world descended on that Reuters tweet and basically
00:06:29.240
started sharing videos of Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer saying exactly that, saying
00:06:34.540
that this was going to stop the transmission of the virus.
00:06:37.160
This was going to stop the spread of the virus.
00:06:39.200
And in one tweet, he said the, the, the booster vaccine had a 100% effectiveness in South Africa
00:06:46.140
And then of course Pfizer themselves in their official Twitter account, they also were telling
00:06:50.440
people that the, the virus was stopping transmission of the virus.
00:06:54.700
The vaccine was stopping transmission of the virus.
00:06:57.140
Contradictory to what the Pfizer executive said in European parliament.
00:07:00.940
So this all just, I think goes to show you that for so long, for the past two, three years,
00:07:06.580
Andrew, we've been getting fact checks from Reuters, from AP, they also got in on this.
00:07:11.320
We've been getting fact checks from them, which only really uphold a narrative.
00:07:14.820
They don't actually tell us or tell, tell, tell people what was, what, what is wrong about
00:07:23.940
So to me, it's actually very sinister that we have fact checkers coming in that are pushing
00:07:28.460
a narrative and aren't actually just telling us what's true and what's false.