February 14, 2023

Canada’s government has not published data showing that all COVID-19 deaths in the country are caused by COVID-19 vaccines, despite claims spreading online.

“100% of COVID deaths in Canada now due to mRNA vaccine, new data shows,” reads a screenshot of a Feb. 2 headline shared Feb. 5 on Instagram.

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The blog post with that headline provides no evidence for this claim. We asked the Public Health Agency of Canada about the allegation and the agency’s media relations office directed us to reported side effects from all types of COVID-19 vaccines, not just mRNA, through Jan. 6, the most recent date with available data.

Since the pandemic started, more than 50,000 people in Canada have died from COVID-19.

Four hundred deaths following COVID-19 vaccination also have been reported in Canada. Of those, four were classified as “consistent with causal association to immunization” after being reviewed by scientific and medical professionals, according to the email from Public Health Agency of Canada.

As for the other deaths following vaccination, “Simply because a death occurred following immunization does not mean the vaccine or vaccination caused that death,” the agency said in an email.

The agency added that “vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to protect against serious illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19 infection.”

We rate the claim that “100% of COVID deaths in Canada now due to mRNA vaccine” False.

This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.

Support high-integrity, independent journalism that serves democracy. Make a gift to Poynter today. The Poynter Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and your gift helps us make good journalism better.
Donate
Ciara O'Rourke is a contributing writer for PolitiFact. Previously, Ciara covered local government and public safety for the Austin American-Statesman and fact-checked elected officials and…
Ciara O'Rourke

More News

Back to News