BBC's 'vaccine expert' just happens to be in charge of Pfizer's Vaccine Centre

22 July update: Full summary of concerns after watching the programme

21 July 2022 Update. Note: this article was originally published several days before the BBC documentary "Unvaccinated" was screened on 20 July 2022. It was in response to the Daily Mail article about the programme. Having watched the programme it was every bit as biased as expected and there is a lot more to say about it; so I will be updating with a new article. I have, however, removed the word 'independent' from the title of this article since there was no explicit claim in the programme that the experts used were 'independent'. However, neither the participants nor the viewers were told of the crucial Pfizer links of these experts. This was an appalling omission by the BBC. Moreover, when speaking about the US pharma companies Pfizer and Moderna in the programme Prof Adam Finn stated that he 'acted as a buffer between them and the public' implying some kind of independent role). This is a remarkable statement given his position explained below.

18 July Update: Now updated below to show that, additionally, their 'vaccine is safe' for pregnant women 'expert' just happens to be the PI of the Pfizer Covid vaccine in preganancy trial.

As I reported in this previous post the BBC is screening a documentary on 20 July in which mathematician Prof Hannah Fry - with the help of 'experts' - attempts to convince 7 members of the public (who have so far refused) to take the Covid vaccine. As I pointed out the BBC (in the publicity for the programme) already signposted the likely extreme bias in the programme by massive underestimating the number of unvaccinated people in the UK, hence trying to present such people as a tiny extreme fringe.

This newspaper article about the Programme unwittingly provides more evidence of just how biased the programme is going to be. To give just one example, we have this:

As for concerns about how exactly the jab works, the group travelled to meet Professor Adam Finn, a paediatrician from the University of Bristol who has been instrumental in Covid vaccine research.

So who exactly is Prof Finn? He just happens to be the leader of the Pfizer Centre of Excellence for Epidemiology of Vaccine-preventable Diseases - set up with an initial £4.6 million investment in May 2021:

And now we have this from the article

“To address concerns about fertility, Prof Fry introduces Chanelle and Naomi – both concerned about female fertility – to Asma Khalil, a professor of obstetrics and maternal-foetal medicine at St George's University Hospital in London, who has conducted research into the effect of the jab on pregnant women.

Her latest review, looking at the outcomes of nearly 120,000 jabbed pregnant women, concluded that vaccination in pregnancy was safe.”

Yet:

And as long ago as 2015 Asma Khalil declared the following conflicts of interest as a member of the NICE Quality Standards Committee:

It is also important to note that the review "of nearly 120,000 jabbed pregnant women" is actually a meta-analysis of what appears to be cherry-picked studies (many of which have obvious biases and flaws).

But that's not all regarding Asma Khalil. It turns out the she was a participant in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded simulation "Preparing for Disease X: Ensuring Vaccine Equity for Pregnant Women in Future Pandemics" - the results of which are reported in this paper that she co-authored:

Well here is the funding and COI statement at the end of that paper.

Note that there is no declaration by AK. This requires an explanation. Nor does AK declare any COI's in her other recent publications.