Did the COVID-19 vaccine cause Canadian reporter Jessica Robb to stumble on air? No, there's no evidence that's true: Robb, a CTV News journalist who appeared to suffer a medical emergency while reporting live on air, has said that what happened was "in no way related to the COVID-19 vaccine." She added: "While I will not share private medical information publicly, I can say that there is no cause for concern, and that my understanding of my own medical background provides a reasonable explanation for what happened."
The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) posted on January 8, 2023. Alongside video of Robb stumbling during her live report that day, the post read:
DISTURBING: Young female reporter, Jessica Robb has a medical episode live on air.
She posted on her Facebook page that she has been vaccinated three times. 💉💉💉
#diedsuddenly
This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Tue Jan 10 15:08:57 2023 UTC)
The post shows a roughly 16-second clip in which Robb says she's not feeling well and then appears to lose her balance and ability to focus. The post provides no sourcing to substantiate its implied claim that Robb suffered the emergency as a result of having been "vaccinated three times."
Robb, who reports for CTV, a Canadian TV network, addressed the claim in a January 9, 2023, statement on Twitter, writing that what happened was "in no way related to the COVID-19 vaccine." She added:
To everyone who has reached out with supportive messages of well wishes and concern, thank you. It's been overwhelming, and while I can't get to all the messages, please know I've seen them and appreciate every single one.
I have also received an overwhelming amount of harassment and hatred, tied to false theories about the reason for the incident. While I will not share private medical information publicly, I can say that there is no cause for concern, and that my understanding of my own medical background provides a reasonable explanation for what happened.
You can read Robb's full statement here:
A message from Jessica Robb: On Sunday night, a very personal and vulnerable moment unfolded as I reported live on air. pic.twitter.com/WbMNWhsoN7
-- CTV Edmonton (@ctvedmonton) January 9, 2023
Lead Stories has debunked a number of unsubstantiated and false claims connecting people's deaths or injuries to the COVID vaccine. For example, we showed that there is no evidence activist Liam Coward died as a result of the COVID vaccine; country singer Jake Flint did not die from COVID or complications related to the COVID vaccine; and the vaccine was not the cause of the August 2021 death of 22-year-old Florida resident Gabrielle Petito, who disappeared while traveling through Wyoming.
