Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Explains Why He Hasn't Gotten Vaccinated Yet

By Neil P. First Posted: Dec 15, 2020 09:16 AM EST

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine received its emergency use authorization from the U.S. FDA on Friday but its CEO is yet to receive the vaccine.

(Photo : Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on "Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for Change, Part II".

Pfizer is the first biotechnology that received emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine.

The company already started the vaccination on Monday to those who belong in the priority group or Tier 1a but Pfizer's CEO did not yet get the vaccine for himself.

Pfizer's CEO Yet to be Immunized

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday that he has not yet been immunized using the vaccine that his company developed. Many cannot believe that the CEO of the first vaccine that was given an emergency use authorization has not yet tried his own product.

In a report on New York Post, Bourla explained that the reason why he did not yet get the shot is that he does not want to be seen jumping the line. He asserted that the CDC has already set who will get first the vaccine and that does not include him.

Bourla told CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "I haven't taken it yet and we are having an ethical committee dealing with the question of who is getting it."

Even though he is the CEO of the company, the fact still remains that does not belong in the priority group.

Pfizer's CEO also noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the frontline healthcare workers, nursing home residents, and its staff will be prioritized for the vaccine. The U.S. CDC has set three groups of those who will receive the vaccine.

"Given that there are very strict allocation rules that the CDC has voted [on], we are very sensitive not to cut the queue and get vaccinated before," Bourla added.

He does not also rule out that he will get the vaccine soon to improve the confidence of Americans.

Confidence of Americans Towards the Vaccine

According to the polls, Americans are split when it comes to their confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.

Before the vaccine was on its third stage of the human clinical trial, majority does not want to get vaccinated, but a recent national poll said that they are now confident to get the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the majority of Latinos and Blacks, or minorities, do not have confidence over the vaccine.

Only 34 percent of Latinos trust the vaccine. In comparison, 14 percent of Blacks are willing to be inoculated. That means that minorities show fear of the vaccine.

The first group of people has already received the first shot of the vaccine on Monday and they will get their second shot three weeks after. Meanwhile, it is still not clear if the vaccine protects a person against COVID-19 symptoms or getting the infection.