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FACT BRIEF

Did the CEO of Pfizer cancel a trip to Israel 'because he was not vaccinated'?

Thursday, August 12, 2021
By Kaiyah Clarke
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Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called off a scheduled trip because, while he had received his first shot, he was still waiting for the second shot of the two-step Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. 

A misleading claim on social media was made in August 2021 -- almost five months after Bourla canceled the trip and then received his second shot. The claim raised implications by declaring that Bourla "had to cancel" the trip, and emphasized in all-capital letters "BECAUSE HE WAS NOT VACCINATED." 

The Jerusalem Post accurately reported on March 7, 2021, that Bourla called off a visit to Israel because he had received only the first of two vaccination shots. The article cited Bourla as having said that he did not want to "cut in line" for the vaccine earlier.

According to Bourla, he got the second shot as scheduled in March.

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Sources
Jerusalem Post Pfizer CEO's Israel visit canceled because he is not fully vaccinated
Centers for Disease Control Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety
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Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.