Five years after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the erroneous information in vaccines still circulates widely on social networks.
In February 2025, a new wave of publications spread false accusations about the side effects of the Pfizer vaccine, stating that the pharmacist would have published a list of serious reactions, including heart failure and sudden death. However, this information has no basis.
Euronews came into contact with Pfizer, who denied the accusations. The pharmacist said that it has never published this list and clarified that all the information on the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as any other medicine or vaccine, is periodically magazines and updates the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
There is no Ema Site, The official report on the vaccine can be consulted, where known and most common side effects are listed. Among them, we highlight the headache, fever and nausea, which affect one in 10 people who take the vaccine. These symptoms are generally temporary and do not represent a serious risk to health.
According to Marco Cavaleri, head of the Department of Public Health Threats in EMA, these are already observed symptoms during the clinical tests performed before the approval of the vaccine.
“What could not really be determined in the previous approval of the clinical tests was the very rare adverse events,” said Cavaleri, “and with respect to the messenger RNA vaccine, the only rare adverse events that we recognize as caused by vaccines are myocarditis and pericarditis.”
It is important to keep in mind that, although they have been cited in the list that circulates on social networks, adverse effects such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and facial paralysis in one person every 10,000 vaccines are produced, according to the EMA report.
However, these rare effects are also associated with the beginning of vaccination campaigns, according to Cavaleri, when two doses of the vaccine were applied in a short period of time, which mainly affected young and adolescents between 12 and 25 years.
“In addition to this adverse event, which is quite significant, even very rare, we have not seen anything really worried about the messenger RNA,” said Cavaleri.
The dissemination of false news about the side effects of the Pfizer vaccine did not stop there. Some accusations also mentioned other serious problems, such as liver failure and sudden death, but it is important to clarify that none of these effects are listed in the official EMA reports.
The world health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency, reiterate, on their official platforms, that the Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective. These agencies confirm that the benefits of vaccination are widely surpluses of risk, and that continuous monitoring of the vaccine is carried out in all member states of the European Union.
“Many of the informed events informed would occur anyway, regardless of whether the vaccine was administered or not,” said Cavaleri. “When you vaccinate almost worldwide, it is inevitable that some of these adverse effects that would happen anyway because they had a temporary association with vaccination, but are not caused by the vaccine.”
Cavaleri states that for vaccines approved by EMA, the risk of benefit is positive and reiterates the commitment of the organ with public health. “We, like a neutral organ, do not press about one thing or another. We only care about people, their public health and their well -being.”
In addition, Pfizer assured an answer sent to Euronews that regularly collaborates with several international authorities to monitor the safety of their products.
“Pfizer has solid processes to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities to monitor, notify and analyze all adverse events and collect relevant information to evaluate any new potential safety risk that may be associated with the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Pfizer’s spokesman to Euronews.
For more information on the subject and updated research, see the EMA website, as well as the guidelines published by the World Health Organization.
