Pfizer’s key scientist Mikael Dolsten, who developed Covid vaccine, to step down – Times of India

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Tuesday said its chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten, a key figure behind the development of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, would step down.

Dolsten will be stepping down after over a 15-year career at the company.

The drugmaker said it would start identifying a successor for Dolsten, a process which is expected to last several months.

Dolsten joined Pfizer as part of the Wyeth acquisition in 2009, when he was named president of Worldwide Research and Development with the responsibility to lead all of Pfizer’s research as well as development of all its treatments through mid-stage studies.

Last year, Albert Bourla, Chief Executive Officer of US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, encountered a series of tough questions about the efficacy of its Covid vaccine on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting, but he repeatedly ignored the queries.

Couple of Rebel News reporters named Ezra Levant and Avi Yemini were seen asking a lot of uncomfortable questions to the Pfizer CEO. Among the questions, he asked the CEO why the manufacturer kept the fact secret that its vaccine did not stop transmission of the virus.

Rebel News posted a six-minute-long video of the confrontation on Twitter. In the video, the journalist grilled him about why Pfizer kept a secret about vaccines not stopping Covid transmission.

“You (Pfizer) said it was 100% effective, then 90%, then 80%, then 70%, but we now know that the vaccines do not stop transmission. Why do you keep that secret?” the reporters asked.

The Pfizer chief time and again ducked these questions, only to say “Thank you very much” and “Have a nice day”. The reporters, however, kept on following the Pfizer chief even though he did not solicit a response.

In another question, he was asked whether it was time to apologize to the world and to give refunds to the countries that bought vaccines that did not yield results. “Are you not ashamed of what you’ve done in the last couple of years?” Yemini asked.


A few weeks ago, the state of Kansas in the US filed a lawsuit against Pfizer, alleging that the pharmaceutical company engaged in deceptive practices regarding its Covid-19 vaccine.

The lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Thomas County, accuses Pfizer of violating the Kansas Consumer Protection Act by making false claims about the vaccine’s effectiveness while concealing potential risks.

According to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican, “Pfizer made multiple misleading statements to deceive the public about its vaccine at a time when Americans needed the truth.”

The lawsuit alleges that Pfizer hid evidence linking the vaccine to pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, as well as heart inflammation (myocarditis and pericarditis) shortly after the vaccine’s rollout in early 2021.

Pfizer denied the allegations, stating, “The representations made by Pfizer about its Covid-19 vaccine have been accurate and science-based.”