Video shows doctor collapsing in early 2020, not COVID vaccine effect

CLAIM: A video shows a “triple jabbed Australian surgeon” in a green gown experiencing a stroke.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The clip has been online since January 2020, before COVID-19 vaccines were available, and was reported to show a Chinese doctor fainting.

THE FACTS: A years-old video is circulating on social media with the false suggestion it shows a doctor suffering from an ailment relating to COVID-19 vaccines.

“Triple jabbed Australian surgeon stroking out mid-surgery,” reads a caption on a widely shared tweet of the video. “Again, this is apocalyptic.”

The clip shows two medical professionals in green gowns standing above a patient in a surgery room. Within seconds of the clip, the individual on the right collapses and staff emerge into the frame to assist.

Reverse image searches of screenshots from the video show that the video has been online since early 2020. A January 2020 story from a Chinese government-owned news outlet featured a screenshot of the same footage, and claimed that it showed a doctor working on a urology patient and fainting.

The timing of those posts refutes the claim that the doctor suffered a stroke as a result of being “triple jabbed.”

Clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines started in March 2020. That summer, a state-owned Chinese company called SinoPharm began giving experimental shots even before the government approved testing in people.

In Australia, meanwhile, vaccinations for the public began in February 2021. The first shots authorized in the U.S. debuted in December 2020.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.