Pfizer
Chairman
and
CEO
Albert
Bourla
did
not
mince
his
words
at
the
43rd
annual
J.P.
Morgan
Healthcare
Conference
in
San
Francisco
on
Monday
regarding
the
controversial
positions
that
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
has
taken
on
vaccines.
Kennedy
is
President-elect
Donald
Trump’s
nominee
to
lead
the
Department
of
Health
and
Human
Services
but
needs
to
be
confirmed
by
the
Senate.
Bourla,
whose
company
is
synonymous
with
the
Covid
vaccines
in
the
mainstream
American
consciousness,
was
asked
by
Chris
Schott,
a
J.P.
Morgan
analyst,
about
how
he
believes
things
might
change
on
the
vaccine
front.
“Clearly,
the
things
that
he
has
said
for
the
vaccines
in
the
past
are
in
complete
contradiction
with
what
we
believe
and
what
the
medical
community
believes,
and
what
the
scientific
community
believes
and
what
regulators
all
over
the
world
believe.
And
vaccines
are
the
most
effective,
cost-effective
health
care
intervention
that
have
existed
since
clean
water,”
Bourla
said,
according
to
a
recording
of
the
session.
While
reiterating
that
he
has
already
engaged
with
the
President-elect
and
his
team
and
would
like
to
work
with
Trump
on
areas
of
mutual
interest,
Bourla
issued
a
clear
warning
“On
the
vaccines,
if
he
[Kennedy]
does
some
of
the
things
that
he
has
spoken
in
the
past,
I
think
he
will
find
in
front
of
him,
not
[just]
us,
but
the
entire
medical
community,
the
entire
scientific
community,
the
entire
health
care
[community]
—
in
terms
of
insurance
companies
because
they
know
that
this
is
very
cost
effective.
And
also
the
employers
who
are
really
believing
that
by
using
vaccination,
they
are
reducing
their
health
care
costs
rather
than
increasing
it,”
Bourla
declared.
The
rate
of
childhood
vaccinations
has
been
dropping
in
the
United
States,
and
Bourla
warned
that
this
might
lead
to
the
worsening
of
diseases
should
Kennedy
act
on
his
beliefs.
“And
even
worse,
if
he
does
some
of
the
things,
because
already
…
we
are
losing
some
vaccinations
in
[chicken]
pox
and
…
polio,
in
terms
of
how
many
people
are
vaccinating.
If
we
go
below
a
specific
threshold,
we
will
start
having
an
epidemic,
and
that
will
be
detrimental
for
him
and
for
the
administration.
So
I
think
we
made
that
very
clear,”
he
said.
In
fact,
vaccination
rates
in
kindergarteners
have
declined
since
2020.
According
to
the
CDC,
“After
10
years
of
near
95%
nationwide
vaccination
coverage,
coverage
with
measles,
mumps,
and
rubella
vaccine
(MMR);
diphtheria,
tetanus,
and
acellular
pertussis
vaccine
(DTaP);
poliovirus
vaccine
(polio);
and
varicella
vaccine
(VAR) declined
to
approximately
93%
over
the
2020–21
and
2021–22
school
years
and
remained
essentially
unchanged
during
the
2022–23
school
year.”
After
painting
the
picture
of
a
worst-case
scenario
in
the
U.S.,
Bourla
struck
a
more
conciliatory
tone
by
saying
how
he
can
work
with
the
Trump
administration
on
areas
of
mutual
interest.
“He
has
seen
a
lot
of
his
friends
and
people
that
he
knew
dying
from
cancer,
and
he
keeps
asking
every
time
I
meet
—
‘What
are
we
doing
with
cancer?’
and
‘Can
we
cure
it?’
And
I
think
that’s
an
opportunity
to
try
to
build
programs
that
will
accelerate
the
cancer
development,”
Bourla
said.
Aside
from
Pfizer,
other
companies
were
also
asked
if
they
expect
any
changes
from
the
incoming
administration
on
vaccines.
The
CEO
of
Moderna,
which
created
the
mRNA
Covid
vaccine,
and
has
other
vaccines
in
its
pipeline
said
that
it
is
too
early
to
know
what
the
Trump
administration
is
going
to
do
in
terms
of
vaccines.
But
Stéphane
Bancel
went
on
to
add
the
following
in
more
detail:
The
piece
that
we
are
confident
in,
I
think,
is
that
every
elected
leader
and
every
public
health
leader
in
those
agencies
—
FDA,
CMS,
CDC
and
so
on
—
want
to
protect
the
American
people,
want
to
make
America
healthy
again.
And
so
vaccine
is
a
very
important
tool.
If
you
think
about
vaccines
in
the
elderly,
if
a
recommendation
was
to
be
changed,
the
impact
will
be
seen
in
the
same
season
—
in
which
you
might
see
in
increase
in
costs
…
in
the
same
season
because
we
know
that
[if]
a
70-year-old
person
is
hospitalized,
[that
person]
is
of
course
going
to
cost
much
more
that
same
year
by
being
hospitalized
with
very
high
cost.
And
so
there’s
a
lot
of
doctors,
scientists
in
all
those
agencies
that
know
the
facts
and
will
be
able
to
provide
to
the
new
elected
leaders
those
facts
so
that
they
understand
the
benefit
and
the
risk-benefit
[ratio]
in
terms
of
vaccinations
that
has
been
known
and
demonstrated
for
a
long
time.And
so
we’re
going
to
collaborate
with
the
new
administration,
like
we’ve
always
done
with
every
administration
in
every
country
where
we
operate.
We
believe
that
focusing
on
the
data
and
the
risk-reward
ratio
will
be
the
right
way
to
do
it.
The
CEO
of
GSK
(GlaxoSmithKline)
wasn’t
asked
specifically
about
the
prospect
of
vaccines
under
Trump,
but
Emma
Walmsley
did
sing
their
praises.
“The
reality
is
there
is
no
better
return
on
healthcare
budget
investments
than
investing
in
vaccines
that
stop
disease
before
it
starts.
That’s
why
you’re
seeing
a
regulatory
environment
that,
in
the
IRA
[Inflation
Reduction
Act],
has
been
removing
copays,”
she
said
according
to
a
transcript
of
her
session
at
JPM.
Photo:
WhataWin,
Getty
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