The French minister of health has labeled a campaign, which offered influencers €2,000 to suggest the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is dangerous, as “lousy.” The ministry says it’s “following the events closely.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said he and his ministry were still unsure about the origins of the campaign which sought to damage Pfizer’s reputation. “I do not know if it comes from France or from abroad,” he noted.
“It’s lousy, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible and it doesn’t work,” he stated, adding that he was confident the French people are unlikely to be “diverted” by some “negative communication.” He claimed that the majority of French people want the vaccine as soon as possible.
Veran’s comments come after several influencers said on Monday that they had been contacted by a mysterious agency called ‘Fazze’ which describes itself as an ‘influencer marketing platform’.
The agency reportedly offered French influencers €2,000 to claim the Pfizer vaccine is dangerous. Influencer Jeremie, known as ‘Docteur JFK’ on TikTok, told FranceInfo: “I was supposed to say the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had caused three times more deaths than AstraZeneca.” He added that the person contacting him wanted to remain anonymous and that he turned down the offer.
Leo Grasset, a YouTuber known as ‘DirtyBiology’, said he had also been contacted on May 24. He tweeted: “This is strange. I got offered a partnership that consists of destroying the Pfizer vaccine in a video. Huge budget, and a client that wants to stay anonymous.”
The French Ministry of Health has said it is keeping a close eye on developments and denounced the disinformation campaign.
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