As my Pfizer-BioNTech “placebo” report from last July has for some reason just gone viral again, this is a good time to address an important detail which I did not cover in the original report and which was neglected in the sometimes heated discussion which followed. “Placebo” here does not necessarily mean saline solution. It could also mean that the relevant doses contained all the ingredients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine except the active drug substance: the mRNA. In other words, the lipid nanoparticles, which are supposed to deliver the mRNA to cells, were empty.
Though they did not come right out and say it, this appears in fact to be what the German chemistry professors who raised the placebo hypothesis were suggesting. For the details, see my new article at the Daily Sceptic here.
"Facilities outside Europe" may well refer to Pfizer's Andover MA facility in the US, but what about China and Fosun Pharma? That's a real black hole in terms of information. They have been partnered with BioNTech from the beginning in what was announced to be a deal in which they would have the rights to make the vaccine in China for the Chinese market and share profits with BioNTech. Instead, Fosun's early "investment" in BNTX stock must have made them a nice profit, and the vaccine was never approved for use in mainland China - with the exception in late 2022 for German expatriates living there. I read something about them building a manufacturing plant in Shanghai in mid-2021 to make a billion doses. Were all of those destined only for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan? Do they have any other manufacturing facilities in Europe? Have any Chinese-produced mrna vaccines ended up in the arms of Europeans? Fosun also apparently collaborated in early clinical trials, along with Pfizer. I'd love to see that data.
Not Drug but Pro-Drug
But yes this is a big issue as Comparing efficacy needs the lipid nanoparticles, but comparing safety requires the saline!