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Project Veritas’ latest undercover sting may have been its most insane yet. In a must-see video, the investigative journalism outlet’s founder, James O’Keefe, confronts a man named Jordon Trishton Walker after a secretly-recorded admission that Pfizer is mutating COVID-19 to create vaccines.

Walker, who was described in the video as a Director of Research and Development, becomes combative with a physical confrontation eventually breaking out. The results are wild.

Now, after days of silence, Pfizer has finally responded. In a lengthy statement, the pharmaceutical company, most known for its COVID-19 vaccine, claims it does not perform gain-of-function research.

In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.

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In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world.

There’s a lot of doublespeak and hiding behind language there. While Pfizer insists it performs no gain-of-function research, it goes on to admit that in a “limited number of cases,” the company engineers the COVID-19 virus to “enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells.”  That seems like it requires a lot more explanation, does it not? Because it seems to be somewhat in contradiction with their initial claim.

The real issue here is what is worth the risk and what isn’t. It’s not completely out of line for a pharmaceutical company to do research toward developing vaccines for possible variants. To completely frame that pursuit as nefarious would be to dismiss and discourage lots of positive research throughout the history of medicine.

With that said, it seems pretty clear, at least in my view, that Pfizer isn’t doing what it’s doing because they fear future variants, and with so many people already having been infected, the efficacy of more and more boosters remains in doubt anyway. COVID-19 vaccines and antivirals are what make Pfizer billions of dollars, and they have every incentive to keep shoving boosters out while insisting they are needed because of “variants.”

Their statement isn’t going to convince anyone on the fence. It’s obfuscatory and confusing at best, and given Pfizer’s history of misleading the public, there’s no reason to take the company’s word for anything.

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