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# U.S. sees Pfizer’s and other Western COVID-19 vaccines becoming latest target of Russian disinformation

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U.S. sees Pfizer’s and other Western COVID-19 vaccines becoming latest target of Russian disinformation
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One false Russian claim: that the U.S. rushed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine through the regulatory process

WASHINGTON — Russian intelligence agencies have mounted a campaign to undermine confidence in Pfizer Inc.’s and other Western vaccines, using online publications that in recent months have questioned the vaccines’ development and safety, U.S. officials said.

An official with the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which monitors foreign disinformation efforts, identified four publications that he said have served as fronts for Russian intelligence.

The websites played up the vaccines’ risk of side effects, questioned their efficacy, and said the U.S. had rushed the Pfizer
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vaccine through the approval process, among other false or misleading claims.

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Though the outlets’ readership is small, U.S. officials say they inject false narratives that can be amplified by other Russian and international media.

An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.

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