Pfizer's Vaccine Ingredients Remain the Same, Despite Name Change

Yelena Dzhanova

Health

13th September 2021

Pfizer's Vaccine Ingredients Remain the Same, Despite Name Change

The name is meant to evoke both community and "immunity" (Getty Images).

The Claim

Pfizer’s vaccine name change is a “bait n’ switch.”

News posted on

Emerging story

Commotion related to Cormirnaty, the new official name for Pfizer’s vaccine, began immediately after the Food and Drug Administration gave the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine full approval on Aug. 23. Some social media users appeared to be suspicious of the update, and others mocked it. Robert F. Kennedy, a notable anti-vaccine advocate, called the name change a “bait and switch” tactic by the Food and Drug Administration, a claim that spread across Twitter.

A supporting image within the article body

Misbar’s Analysis

Comirnaty is the official name of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech. It’s a COVID-19 vaccine brand name that is authorized for use in the United States after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval for Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine to be used in people 16 and older.

That means the vaccine stays the same but will be marketed to the public as Comirnaty, the FDA said.

According to a press release from Pfizer, the name is meant to evoke both “community” and “immunity.”

The name came about months before any vaccine was even released to the public. A branding agency came up with the name Comirnaty to represent the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine in April 2020, according to FiercePharma, an industry site for pharmaceutical news.

There were other names considered for the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, including Covuity, RnaxCovi, Kovimerna, and RNXtract, according to FiercePharma.

The branding agency chose Comirnaty because it "represents a combination of the terms COVID-19, mRNA, community, and immunity, to highlight the first authorization of a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, as well as the joint global efforts that made this achievement possible with unprecedented rigor and efficiency — and with safety at the forefront — during this global pandemic," Pfizer said in a statement.