Stickers with false claims around the safety of coronavirus vaccines have appeared in Newport.
The stickers, which have been spotted on Christchurch Road, display factually incorrect information about the jabs and discourage people from getting their children vaccinated against coronavirus.
The stickers claim that people have "paid the price with your freedoms, life, health and finances" and that children will "pay an even bigger price" if they have the jab. They also display false links between the vaccine and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. A top consultant busted a lot of these myths, here.
Read more: People under 40 told us why they won't have a Covid jab
Other similar stickers, all of which display a blue sticker saying 'Rise Up for Children' alongside the hashtag #standuptostopthem, show the names of individuals who they falsely claim have died as a result of receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.
One sticker shows the picture of a man called Alan Sporn, a "loving, retired husband" who it claims died "after receiving a Covid injection" and "was led to believe it was safe."
However, NBC Chicago reported in May that Mr Sporn, owner and president of Spornette International and who had been suffering with leukaemia since 2019, died after testing positive for Covid-19 despite having received two Pfizer jabs.
However, there is no evidence to suggest his death was caused by the vaccine. It is unclear who the image on the sticker is of but it's not this Alan Sporn.
Other stickers linked the death of Dr Gwalani Tulsio to the vaccine. The Times of India reported the death of a Dr Tulsio Gawalani in February this year, but the man's family have stressed that there was no link between his death and vaccination after false rumours circulated online. According to the Times of India, "the doctor’s family called it a natural death caused by heart attack".
Health officials around the world have repeatedly assured the safety of coronavirus vaccines. They have said that although vaccines sometimes have side effects, such side effects are extremely rare and are often short-term and mild. They have urged people to take a Covid-19 vaccine and stressed that the benefits of having the jab far outweigh the potential side effects.
Public Health Wales has said the vaccine is safe, effective and essential in the long-term response to a pandemic. More information is available here.
The latest figures show that 2,320,165 people in Wales have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,150,141 people have received both doses of the jab. More than 4.8 billion doses have been administered across the world so far, with 24% of the world's population having already been fully vaccinated.
