A viral claim suggesting that two Australian children, Allison Coleman and Lachlan Leary, both aged seven, died after receiving Covid-19 vaccine is found to be hoax. The claim originated soon after vaccine was rolled out for the children in the 5-11 years age bracket in South Wales.
The reports regarding deaths of the seven-year-olds surfaced on the social media. Leary's 'father' posted the news of his death on his Facebook page.
What is the Viral Claim?
The social media was flooded with images of obituary of two children announcing their deaths due to covid-19 vaccine. "Today 12-Jan-2022 -- ALLISON COLEMAN, a 7-year-old Australian girl, received her first dose of Pfizer's vaccine on 1/11. She lay down at night and died in her sleep from cardiac arrest. Family and friends are outraged and have no doubt that the vaccine was the cause of death," a post read.
The post also carried an image which called Allison Coleman a "Pfizer Victim." It stated that Coleman was vaccinated on January 11. "Innocent vibrant, healthy 7-year-old girl dropped after C*vid Vax*ine in NSW," read the text on the image.
In a post made on Facebook, a user named "Steve Leary" claimed to be Lachlan Leary's father. The post stated that his son Lachlan became unwell after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. The 'father' claimed that Lachlan collapsed on his bedroom floor and stopped breathing following which the parents started CPR.
"I called the ambo on loudspeaker. Ambo arrived within 7 mins, my son passed away in the ambulance. He had a massive heart attack," read the post.
Here is the Truth
Debunking the claim being made in the viral posts, Lead Stories stated that there is no evidence that Allison Coleman and Lachlan Leary died or ever existed.
"The stories appear to be a hoax designed to frighten parents. It is not clear if the stories originated from the same source -- if it is one complex hoax involving two fictitious children, or if it is two independent hoaxes similar in theme and timing," reported the outlet.
News.com.au reported that there is no record of a Lachlan Leary who died in Sydney. In a communique to the outlet, NSW Health said it "has not been able to locate any record of any such incident".
In a post made on Facebook, the Children's Hospital at Westmead, where Leary claims his son was taken, stated, "There are many inaccurate posts currently circulating on social media. There is no record of any child having passed away following Covid vaccination at our hospital."
