Did Pfizer halt production of the COVID-19 vaccine due to deaths? No, that's not true: The pharmaceutical company said that it's making improvements to a facility in Belgium, resulting in a "temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered." Production didn't stop. The upgrades are expected to boost deliveries starting in mid-February.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published to BitChute on January 19, 2021. The post, titled "PFIZER HALT PRODUCTION DUE TO DEATHS", included a video of a man talking directly to the camera. He said:
If you were conspiracy minded like me, you would say it was because [of] the massive amount of deaths. I believe in America, they're looking into over 100 deaths caused by the snake oil, but the mainstream media are telling us that the reason that Pfizer are suspending production is because they're updating their factories and improving production techniques. Maybe. Listen, all things are possible, but it just seems to me a bit too much of a coincidence that the company that's responsible for all these deaths are suspending production.
Users on social media saw this title, description and thumbnail:
PFIZER HALT PRODUCTION DUE TO DEATHS
MAD MIX CONSPIRACIES
Although, when speaking, the man left open the possibility that he was wrong, the headline of the post clearly says Pfizer stopped production because of deaths. That's not true -- for at least two reasons.
One, Pfizer did not halt production; deliveries were temporarily reduced as improvements are being made to a facility in Puurs, Belgium. In a statement, dated January 15, 2021, the company said that it plans to increase deliveries in the near future. The statement read:
To accomplish this, certain modifications of production processes are required now. As a result, our facility in Puurs, Belgium will experience a temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered in the upcoming week. We will be back to the original schedule of deliveries to the European Union beginning the week of January 25, with increased delivery beginning week of February 15 resulting in our ability to deliver the fully committed quantity of vaccine doses in the first quarter and significantly more in the second quarter.
Two, there is no publicly available evidence to support the statement that more than 100 deaths are being investigated in the United States as being the result of the COVID-19 vaccine. There is at least one case under investigation: that of a Florida doctor who died from an unusual blood disorder after receiving the shot. The man in the video provided no source or proof to back up his claim of more than a hundred.
