Online rumours claim that one the first volunteers in the UK for COVID-19 vaccine trials – Elisa Granato – has died as the result of receiving her vaccination.
The UK is currently trialling vaccines for COVID-19, with the first set of volunteers receiving vaccinations on Thursday April 23rd 2020.
Shortly after those first trial vaccinations, an article falsely purporting the death of one such volunteer – microbiologist Elisa Granato – began to spread across social media. Not surprisingly, the story was prolifically shared through online anti-vaccination communities.
Headlines on websites such as N5ti.com and Newsbreakng.com read –
First Volunteer In UK Coronavirus Vaccine Trial, Elisa Granato, Dies
However the stories are false, and the websites carrying the story are not legitimate news outlets.
In fact, Dr. Granato herself appeared in a BBC interview on Sunday 26th April – a day after the rumours went viral – to confirm that she was indeed very much alive and well (below.)
Granato also tweeted “Nothing like [waking] up to a fake article on your death … I’m doing fine everyone. Please don’t share the article in question“. However she has since protected her Twitter account meaning only users who she has approved can read her tweets.
As such, we rank the claim that Elisa Granato died as a result of a COVID-19 trial vaccination as false.