Pfizer CEO responded to letter from boy requesting vaccination for Santa

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla responded to a 6-year-old boy from Ireland who asked the company to prioritize Santa Claus and his elves in their COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. 

The Irish Examiner reported that Callum Thornhill of Glanmire wrote to the company urging them to “please send some [vaccine] to the North Pole for Santa and his elves. Please.”

His mother, Paula Lineham, told the newspaper that a letter from one of the company’s local offices in response made her son’s Christmas.

“We have been in touch with Santa to offer our assistance and he assured us that he, Mrs. Claus, the Reindeer and all the Elves are keeping well and safe,” read a letter sent from a site leader at Pfizer Ringaskiddy.

Enclosed in the package was a small Christmas gift: an art kit.

Pfizer’s CEO also responded to Callum and another child who wrote to the company in a post on LinkedIn.

“I want you to know that we are doing everything we can to help bring hope to people around the world. And we will make sure to take care of Santa and his elves, too,” wrote Bourla.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine was the first cleared for emergency use in the U.S. and U.K. earlier this month. The vaccine has since begun distribution and administration to Americans.

A vaccine from Moderna was also cleared for emergency use in the days that followed.

The vaccine rollout comes as the U.S. and U.K. are reporting some of the highest levels of new COVID-19 infections and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, forcing many localities to tighten restrictions on public life in the middle of the holiday season.