Facebook posts feature a photo of a sign at a vaccination stand that urges people to remember to donate their children's organs, suggesting that the shots will kill them. But the image has been manipulated; the original banner advertised vaccinations in English and Spanish, with no mention of organ donation.
"COVID Vaccines Here NO Appointment Needed," the banner says in an image in a November 7, 2021 Facebook post, adding: "DON'T FORGET TO DONATE YOUR CHIDLRENS ORGANS."
A screenshot taken on November 9, 2021 shows a manipulated image shared on Facebook
The same image -- part of a series of false claims about Covid-19 vaccines circulating online as US authorities push for people to take the shots -- was also shared on Facebook here and here.
The US Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 in late October. The shot was then endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), clearing the way for the vaccination of up to 28 million children.
But the call for children's organ donations is fake -- it was not on the banner outside Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
AFP located the original image through an online search for text featured on the sign. The unedited image appeared in a July 31 post on the website of the New England Patriots National Football League team.
"Yes, the picture is ours," Stephanie Burnham, the team's communications coordinator, told AFP on November 9.
Burnham said the picture showed "a vaccination opportunity provided to individuals attending a New England Revolution soccer match in July 2021."
As seen in a screenshot below, the banner did not include a message about organ donation.
A screenshot taken on November 10, 2021 shows a photo that appeared on the New England Patriots' website
Instead, the message advertising Covid-19 vaccines with no appointments needed was repeated in Spanish inside the white rectangle on the sign.
AFP Fact Check has debunked more than 1,200 false or misleading claims related to Covid-19.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by BOOM staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
