- Elon Musk shared that his second COVID-19 vaccine dose nearly hospitalized him.
- This came in response to testimony from a former Pfizer executive in Germany.
- The executive alleged significant underreported deaths and skipped safety studies.
- He estimated 60,000 vaccine-related deaths in Germany and called for a pause.
- The report highlights systemic concerns about safety oversight during the pandemic.
A personal health revelation from one of the world’s most influential figures has reignited a fierce debate over COVID-19 vaccine safety. This weekend, Elon Musk shared that his second vaccine dose nearly sent him to the hospital, a highly personal comment that came directly in response to explosive testimony from a former Pfizer executive alleging the shots caused tens of thousands of deaths in Germany.
On Sunday, Musk responded to an X post detailing recent statements by Dr. Helmut Sterz, Pfizer’s former chief toxicologist in Europe. In a German COVID-19 inquiry last month, Sterz presented a devastating assessment. He testified that the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany’s vaccine regulator, had received 2,133 reports of death following Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Sterz stated, “These spontaneous reports likely have a high number of unreported cases due to underreporting. The true number is therefore much higher.”
He applied a common underreporting factor to estimate the real toll. “In the U.S., it is assumed that there is an underreporting factor of 30 by which the registered cases would have to be multiplied. For Germany, this would correspond to 60,000 deaths from the vaccination,” Sterz said. He further revealed that Pfizer’s own post-marketing report noted 1,200 suspected deaths within two months of the shot’s approval. “At that point, Comirnaty should have been withdrawn from the market,” Sterz told the commission.
Skipped safety studies and a call for pause
The testimony went beyond mortality figures. Sterz asserted that “time constraints” caused Pfizer to skip vital safety studies before the public rollout. This included carcinogenicity studies to check for cancer-causing properties and research on the vaccine’s impact on pregnancy. He called for an independent scientific review of the vaccines’ long-term effects. “We need proper independent safety studies to understand what really happened. Without full transparency, people will not trust the conclusions,” Sterz said, according to GB News.
He argued the high number of negative side effects warrants pausing these vaccines and others using similar technology until independent studies confirm safety. When a commissioner asked if the benefits of Pfizer’s vaccine still outweighed the risks, Sterz’s answer was unequivocal: no. He cited an analysis estimating 25 severe side effects from the vaccine for every one severe COVID-19 case it allegedly prevented.
Musk's personal experience amplifies the alarm
It was this context that prompted Elon Musk to share his own experience. Musk reposted a summary of Sterz’s testimony and added his own medical history. He contrasted his experience with the “original Wuhan virus,” which he said was manageable, with his reaction to the vaccine. “My second vaccine shot almost sent me to the hospital,” Musk wrote. “Felt like I was dying.” He criticized the one-size-fits-all approach, stating global vaccine dosages were “obviously too high.”
Musk’s comments, reaching his millions of followers, shattered any remaining illusion of universal consensus on vaccine safety. Prominent British cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra reacted to Sterz’s testimony by writing on X, “Deeply disturbing is an understatement.” Dr. Ryan Cole of the Independent Medical Alliance asked why the vaccines remain on the market given such allegations.
A systemic failure of oversight
The claims emerge against a backdrop of longstanding concerns about vaccine injury reporting systems. U.S. data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) shows more than 39,000 reported deaths following COVID-19 vaccination as of late February, with over 24,000 linked to Pfizer’s shot. Internal documents revealed last month that federal health officials knew the primary statistical tool they used to detect safety signals in VAERS was “mostly useless.”
This reveals a pattern where the urgency of a pandemic response may have compromised standard safety protocols and transparent oversight. The testimony of an industry insider like Sterz, coupled with the visceral account from a figure like Musk, challenges the official narrative that has dominated public health messaging for years.
The conversation is no longer about fringe theories but about the admissions of former pharmaceutical executives and the lived experiences of the global public. It forces a critical question: when the individuals who helped oversee the science and the most prominent figures in modern technology both sound the alarm, is it not time for a truly independent and transparent reckoning?
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