Rumors have been spreading on social media platforms claiming that on August 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin's daughter died after taking a dose of the coronavirus vaccine the country has developed for the second time.
Earlier this month, President Putin announced that Russia had successfully developed and approved the world's first COVID-19 vaccine and will start distribution and mass vaccination in the following weeks.
Deadly vaccine?
According to Snopes, although Putin claimed the vaccine was safe and tested properly and revealed that his daughter was being injected with it, several experts doubt its safety and efficacy. They fear Russia's haste caused it to expedite the development process in exchange for proper research and testing.
A few days after the Russian president's announcement, social media platforms were flooded with posts about the news, including false information. One video allegedly shows Putin's daughter being injected with the coronavirus vaccine. The footage, however, showed a volunteer who has no relation to Putin.
Another false claim about Putin's children surfaced on August 15 on social media platforms. One website, TorontoToday.net, wrote an article that alleged the death of the Russian president's daughter after being shot with a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Checking the source of the news, it did originate from the Kremlin, the president's statement, or any credible news outlet. The article was first published by a website which was only a few weeks old from creation before the claim was spread.
Additionally, the website's supposed "evidence" was not credible or trustworthy. The first one where it states that a "source within Russia's inner circle" was the one who provided information about the news gives no details about the incident.
The second one is used as supportive evidence was a video of a Tarot Card Reading which has since been removed from YouTube. An archived version of the footage, however, was discovered and showed a disclaimer which noted the method was not a thorough process and may or may not be accurate.
Doubts about safety and efficacy
Since Putin announced the vaccine and his daughter being one of the recipients, there has been no additional information about the conditions of the Russian president's children. No credible news outlet or agency has reported the death of the daughter from the COVID-19 vaccine.
Last week, the Russian president announced the registry of the world's first approved coronavirus vaccine. Putin reassured the world that his country's treatment had gone through sufficient trials and experimentation and guaranteed its safety and efficacy, as reported by the Time.
The announcement comes with widespread criticism from the scientific community as Moscow is intent on releasing the vaccine for mass use before starting Phase 3 trials.
Previously, Putin revealed that one of his daughters had a mild fever on the day she got her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. The following day, the Russian president revealed his daughter's fever had gone down before getting shot for a second dose where her temperature rose once more.
Putin stated her daughter was well and had a high number of antibodies but did not specify which of his two daughters, Maria and Katerina, had been injected with the COVID-19 vaccine.