Pfizer CEO declares that people who spread 'misinformation' about vaccines are 'criminals'

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla does not appreciate people spreading what he calls "misinformation" about his company's COVID vaccine. He's so adamant about it that he has declared that people who share lies about vaccines are actually criminals in his mind.

According to Bourla, these miscreants are responsible for the deaths of millions of people.

What's that now?

Bourla, whose company has received billions of dollars from the U.S. government alone for its vaccine, made his comments Tuesday while speaking with the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, CNBC reported.

During his conversation with Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe, Bourla ripped into a "very small" number of people who share misinformation about the vaccines on purpose and intentionally mislead the vaccine-hesitant population.

The deaths of millions of people are their heads, according to the drug company chief.

"There are two groups of people," he said. "There are the people that are vaccinated; there are people that are skeptical about the vaccination. Both of them are afraid. Those that are getting the vaccine, they are afraid of the disease, and they believe, because people are not getting vaccinated, they are increasing their risk to them, they are increasing their exposure. They are mad [at] them that they don't get the vaccine."

"Those that don't get the vaccine, they're afraid of the vaccine," Bourla continued. "And they are mad [at] the people that are pressing them to get it."

"Those I understand," he said. "They are very good people. They are decent people, but they have a fear — and I understand it. And they don't want to take chances."

"But there is a very small part of professionals [who] circulate, on purpose, misinformation, so that they will mislead those that have concerns," Bourla added. "Those people are criminals."

"They're criminals because they are literally costing millions of lives," he added.

Kempe agreed, saying they "should be treated as criminals as well."

The Pfizer top dog also lectured Tuesday that people's lives can get "back to normal" once many of the millions of vaccine-hesitant Americans move from unvaccinated to vaccinated.

"The only thing that stands between the new way of life and the current way of life is, frankly, hesitancy to vaccinations," Bourla told the Atlantic Council, CNBC reported.

According to the New York Times' latest data compilation on vaccinations in the U.S., nearly 80% of people 12 years old and older have receive at least one dose of a COVID vax. About two-thirds of all Americans have received at least one jab, which includes children not yet eligible for the shots, the Times said.

The most vaccinated states are Massachusetts and Vermont, where 81% of residents have received at least one shot. Close behind are Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Hawaii at 80%.

The least vaccinated state is West Virginia. Less than half (49%) of Mountain Staters have received at least one dose.