(Reuters) -Pfizer on Wednesday defended the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying it has saved more than 14 million lives worldwide, after U.S. President Donald Trump urged pharmaceutical companies to justify the success of their pandemic drugs.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump asserted that he has seen "extraordinary" data from companies such as Pfizer, but criticized them for withholding results from the public and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pfizer's announcement comes
after major upheaval at the CDC last week, as director Susan Monarez was fired after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who was handpicked by Trump earlier this year.
Pfizer chief Albert Bourla praised Operation Warp Speed as a "profound public health achievement" under Trump's leadership, crediting it with saving more than 14 million lives globally and averting over $1 trillion in healthcare costs. Bourla added that such an accomplishment would "typically be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize,".
The drugmaker also welcomed Trump's demand for openness and pointed to a dedicated section on its website where clinical trial findings and safety updates are posted, adding that new information on its latest vaccine strain, recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will be published in the coming days.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
