Despite her strong anti-vaccine stance, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has apparently been comfortable holding stock in companies that manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.
According to a filing with the Clerk of the House of Representatives from summer 2020 analyzed by Business Insider, Greene holds stock in AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, each worth between $1,000 and $15,000.
Pfizer makes one of two mRNA double-dose vaccines approved for use in the U.S. and Johnson & Johnson makes the only single dose vaccine approved in the country. AstraZeneca makes a two-dose vaccine approved for use in Europe.
Business Insider said the discovery was made as part of Insider's Conflicted Congress project. In addition to Greene, the project found that at least 13 senators and 35 members of the House held shares in Johnson & Johnson, as well as 11 senators and 34 members of the House who had shares in Pfizer.
Another two representatives had shares in Moderna, a company that produces the other two-dose vaccine approved in the U.S.
Earlier this month, Jennifer Strahan a fellow Republican who is running against Greene for Congress in Georgia's 14th district, posted about Greene’s vaccine-related assets on social media.
“I have an independent investment advisor that has full discretionary authority on my accounts. I do not direct any trades,” Greene told Business Insider in September.
While she holds financial interest in vaccine manufacturers, Greene continues to rally against vaccination and claims she herself is not vaccinated. She has criticized COVID-19 vaccines on former President Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s podcast, at the Turning Point USA “America Fest” conference and on social media.
“I'm not vaccinated, and they're going to have a hell of a time if they want to hold me down and give me a vaccine,” she said at “America Fest” event in Phoenix, Ariz. Greene has also been criticized for using a racial slur against Asians at the event.
This week Greene also posted a comment on social media indicating omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant of concern, is a “cold.”
Some studies have shown that omicron has milder symptoms compared to other forms the virus. However, it has been linked with at least one death in the U.S. and more outside of the country. As of Thursday, around 73 percent of COVID-19 cases in the nation were identified as the omicron variant.
“COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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