A video testimonial recounting a thirdhand story about a 13-year-old girl’s heart stopping after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is baseless. The woman in the video provides no evidence or specifics to support her claim and makes other demonstrably false claims about the vaccines. Let’s take a look at the facts.
Here is a full copy of the video:
NewsLit takeaway
Misinformation often provokes strong emotional reactions that can override our rational sensibilities. If you have a strong emotional reaction to something you see online — particularly if it involves evidence-free claims about an important topic such as vaccines or other health-related concerns — take some extra time to check it out before reacting to it. This example also highlights the challenging, cross-platform nature of misinformation: Though this video was removed by Facebook, where it was originally posted, it continued to circulate on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where it was reposted.
- “Canadian officials say there’s no evidence 13-year-old had heart attacks after COVID-19 vaccine” (Bill McCarthy, PolitiFact).
- “N.S. top doc says anti-vaxx video claiming girl's heart stopped after vaccine is false” (Frances Willick, CBC News).
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