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Does a Pfizer Ad Tell Kids the Vaccine Will Give Them Superpowers?
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Does a Pfizer Ad Tell Kids the Vaccine Will Give Them Superpowers?

No.

“PURE EVIL: Disturbing Pfizer Ad Tells Kids They’ll Get Superpowers from COVID Jab (VIDEO).” Or so claims the headline of this story from misinformation peddler the Gateway Pundit. 

The article focuses on a video recently released by Pfizer, in which children talk about “getting ready to fight COVID” by getting their coronavirus vaccines. “All of us want to be superheroes,” one child narrates. “And the most important heroes are those who help others. This year, thousands of kids like us, around the world, joined the COVID-19 vaccine trial. And when they did, they became our superheroes.”

The video refers specifically to those children between the ages of  5 and 11 who participated in clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children in that age category. The vaccine was approved for emergency use for children in this group by the Food and Drug Administration on October 29.

The Gateway Pundit article claims that the Pfizer video “tell[s] children they’ll get superpowers if they get the COVID jab. God, what sick, evil people.”

The only discussion of superpowers in the video comes within the context of children thanking clinical trial participants for “sharing [their] superpowers” before listing said powers. The superpowers in question?

“Courage. Trying new things. The ability to save people. The power to help people. Helping not just yourself but many other kids. To not be scared. Be strong. Super brave. Bravery and courage. A superhero shot. Helping everybody. Fight coronavirus and help others. You’re helping the whole entire world.”

At no point in the Pfizer video does anyone say the shot gives children powers. Gateway Pundit wildly distorts a discussion of powers like “courage” displayed—not received!—by children who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in clinical trials. 

Gateway Pundit author Jim Hoft did not respond to a request for comment.

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Alec Dent is a former culture editor and staff writer for The Dispatch.

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