A now-debunked news story claiming that a toddler died during the clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine has been making the rounds on social media since late April. The story originated on a website known for spreading misinformation. The original story was based solely on a fake report in the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The report, which has since been removed from the system, claimed that a two-year-old girl had received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in a clinical trial in late February and died on March 3. The Pfizer clinical trials in children as young as two did not begin until March, making it impossible that any child would have received a first or second dose in February. The story is being used to discourage parents from vaccinating their children. This is not the first time bad actors have misused VAERS data to stoke fear and spread misinformation and it is unlikely to be the last as families search for accurate information about vaccines for their children.
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