For a long time, the Biontech founder Ugur Sahin was accused of being unvaccinated. A photo of his vaccination should put an end to the rumors.
Frankfurt – The vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer is one of the most widespread vaccines against the coronavirus in Germany. Together with Moderna, the active ingredient from Biontech is currently used in Germany, especially for booster vaccinations. The vaccine from German-American production has been considered well tolerated and highly effective against Covid-19 pathogens since its approval.
Despite its good reputation, large parts of the population are still skeptical about the novel mRNA vaccine. The skepticism about the vaccination has recently been fueled by the rumor that Biontech founder Ugur Sahin himself was still unvaccinated. The claim came after a video was circulated on social media in which Sahin said he was “not legally allowed to get the vaccine.” Many used the statement as an excuse.
For a long time, the founder of Biontech had not commented on his vaccination status. Now Sahin has responded to the “false information” – with a photo: rolled up sleeves and a syringe with the corona vaccine in his arm.
Ugur Sahin: Biontech boss clarifies false reports about vaccination status
Several media reports had already cleared up the false report about the video of the Biontech founder. No doubt about it: the recording with Sahin is real. His statement that he was not allowed to receive the vaccine really existed. However, the 30-second clip comes from an interview in December 2020. At that time, there was only a limited amount of corona vaccine in Germany, which is why the government initially prioritized people over the age of 80. Thus Sahin was legally not allowed to be vaccinated.
After the Biontech boss initially refused to comment on the allegations, he now cleared up the rumors: “There was misinformation on social media that I was allegedly not vaccinated,” wrote Sahin on Friday (December 10th, 2021) in one Post on the career platform LinkedIn. “My wife and I both received 3 doses of the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine,” he said and posted a photo of his vaccination.
The poor health of an old school friend made him decide to publish a photo as evidence. A call in which he had to find out that his childhood friend was in intensive care with a corona infection changed his mind. Sahin writes that neither the school friend nor his family had been vaccinated, as the friend’s wife told him. Mistrust and misinformation are often the reason for deciding not to vaccinate. Sahin wanted to counteract this with the photo evidence. (aa)
