Elon Musk recently claimed that his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine left him feeling as though he were dying, a statement that coincided with a viral video featuring a former Pfizer toxicologist.
Addressing the German legislature, the scientist explained that the mRNA vaccine should not have been released into the public domain because it had resulted in tens of thousands of deaths in Germany.
It was a moment pregnant with suspense, like something straight out of the movie ‘The Insider,’ which came out in 1999. Dr Helmut Sterz, a veteran in pharmaceutical toxicology who previously led European laboratories for Roche and Pfizer, provided the testimony. Although he retired in 2007 — long before the pandemic began — his claims have resonated with millions after being amplified by Musk on social media.
Appearing before the Bundestag’s Corona Enquete Commission on March 19, 2026, at the invitation of the AfD party, Sterz argued that ten essential preclinical safety studies were bypassed during the development of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. His concerns focused on the lack of long-term carcinogenicity studies and what he described as inadequate reproductive toxicity testing. However, his most contentious point involved the death toll.
Sterz took the figure of 2,133 deaths reported to Germany’s Paul-Ehrlich-Institut following vaccination and applied a “30x multiplier.” This calculation was based on an incomplete American study suggesting that adverse events are significantly under-reported. By doing so, he projected a figure of roughly 60,000 deaths— a number the German Health Minister, Karl Lauterbach, immediately dismissed as false.
Several flaws in this argument have been highlighted by scientific authorities. For instance, while the total deaths of 2,133 recorded in Germany were temporally related to the vaccinations, there was no medical proof to show that these deaths were a direct result of the shots administered. Besides, the use of a multiplying factor meant for the American VAERS does not work for Germany’s healthcare infrastructure.
Although authorities recognise rare reactions to vaccines, including myocarditis, it is important to note that the advantages of getting vaccinated are way higher compared to any potential dangers. Moreover, statistics from The Lancet reveal that high vaccination rates were associated with lower mortality rates in Western Europe.
Finally, though Sterz’s concerns about the pace of regulation and the level of preclinical trials are valid points for scientific discussion, his figure of 60,000 deaths is still merely speculation on his part and not proven scientifically. It is clear from the dispute that there exists a growing gap between scientific regulation and sensationalist discourse on social media platforms.
