Pfizer is not testing its coronavirus vaccine illegally on people in Israel, and the Helsinki Human Rights Committee does not intend to release it, despite allegations by Facebook users to the contrary.
Several Facebook posts shared a screenshot of an unknown website that allegedly quoted an Israeli newspaper about the alleged announcement (here, here). The caption on the screenshot reads: “Helsinki declares that Pfizer is conducting unauthorized human experiment,” and is followed by further reading: Calcalist reports that the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights is expected to announce that Pfizer is conducting unauthorized human experiments. The committee overseeing human trials is expected to submit an opinion to the Ministry of Health that the state-led immunization process with Pfizer is a clinical study and should therefore be improved in advance. The committee may also decide that the Israeli government should stop transmitting information to Pfizer; Dr. Tehila Schwartz-Altshuler: “To say it is not an experiment is a lie.” ‘
First, the heading does not refer to Helsinki, Finland, but to the Helsinki Committee in Israel, which authorizes clinical trials on humans (here). There are many countries with Helsinki committees, named after the Helsinki Accords – a diplomatic agreement that reaffirms national borders since World War II, containing ten fundamental commitments, including human rights. It was signed in 1975 at the end of the first conference of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE – now known as OSCE). Israel is a member of the OSCE Mediterranean Partners (www.csce.gov/country/israel).
Second, on January 18, the Israeli newspaper Calcalist published a piece indicating that Pfizer did not receive the committee’s approval before the COVID-19 vaccine for Israeli citizens was rolled out. However, the article has since been updated with the comments of the committee making the matter clear (here).
The Calcalist article quotes Professor Eitan Friedman, the head of Israel’s Helsinki Committee, who initially responded here on Facebook. He said the vaccinations themselves were not a clinical trial, but confirmed that the committee had investigated the type of data sent to Pfizer about vaccinated citizens. This was said for the purposes of future research.
An English translation of his remarks was provided by Israel’s business newspaper Globes. In a report here, the newspaper translated Friedman’s remarks as follows: ‘We are currently reviewing whether the agreement is in accordance with regulations governing privacy in clinical trials, and we will issue an official announcement of our conclusions.
“We are responsible for protecting the medical privacy of Israel’s citizens and as part of this work we are investigating the agreement and whether it protects the rights of citizens. We have no doubt that the Ministry of Health acts with transparency and intends to protect these rights, yet our role is to ensure that the rules are complied with.
‘The vaccination itself was passed by all the approvals. The vaccination is not a clinical trial and we appeal to anyone who does not have contraindications to go vaccinated. As the Helsinki Committee, we want to ensure that the rights and privacy of the State of Israel are protected, even if clinical research is done, then it must be appropriate research. ”
The Israeli Ministry of Health also commented on this to the newspaper. A statement said: “We are talking about a vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of the EU. From this point of view, no clinical trial is required here. the Helsinki Committee. The trial ends after Phase III by Pfizer and the results are published. ‘(Here).
VERDICT
Untrue. The Helsinki Committee in Israel does not intend to say that Pfizer is conducting unauthorized human trials with its COVID-19 vaccine. The committee is examining the type of data shared with Pfizer for privacy purposes, but it is not related to the administration of the vaccine.
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