Anti-Vaxxer Dad Fakes Son’s Death From COVID-19 Vaccine; Police Question Identity

A social media story that claimed a 7-year-old boy in Australia died after being vaccinated against COVID-19 has been determined to be false, according to authorities.

The story, which was posted on Facebook by a user named Steve Leary, claimed that the user’s son, Lachlan Leary, experienced fever and shortness of breath following the boy's first vaccine jab on Jan. 12, 7News.com.au reported.

The man claimed he took Lachlan to Westmead Hospital, where his son was subjected to tests and sent home after five hours, according to the outlet.

The son was allegedly later found "collapsed" and "not breathing" on Jan. 14 before dying of a "massive heart attack" in the back of an ambulance.

"The government ruined has ruined my family, they have taken away our only son," Steve, who warned other parents not to vaccinate their children, was quoted as saying in the post.

The post reportedly collected thousands of likes, comments and shares before Steve's profile was taken down.

However, there is no record of a Lachlan Leary who died in Sydney, with New South Wales (NSW) Health stating it "has not been able to locate any record of any such incident."

The Children's Hospital at Westmead, for its part, said that "there is no record of any child having passed away following COVID vaccination at our hospital."

"There are many inaccurate posts currently circulating on social media," the hospital warned.

Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the medicine regulatory agency that collates all adverse events associated with vaccines, also refuted the claim.

"[The TGA] has not received any adverse event reports involving the death of any children aged between 5 and 11 years," a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.

There were also questions regarding the validity of the profile of Steve. News of the death, which ran on several unverified news sites across the world, pictured Steve Leary, a man who lives in the U.S. and previously served as mayor of the Florida town of Winter Park.

The post is now believed to be a case of misinformation and a deliberate attempt to discourage parents in Australia from having their children vaccinated — just days after 5- to 11-year-olds became eligible for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

Dr. Robert Booy, an infectious diseases pediatrician with the University of Sydney, called the whole ordeal "just appalling."

"So many people have been very hurt because their children have died and it’s been claimed that they died of a vaccine when they weren’t vaccinated at all," Booy said.

Australia has reported around 2.23 million COVID-19 cases and 3,184 virus-related deaths as of Monday, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.