Posts on social media sharing information that a 12-year-old Italian tennis player died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine are unsubstantiated. The tennis academy where she played told Reuters the claims were false. Italian media reports on her passing do not mention her being vaccinated against COVID-19. Very few children her age had received the vaccine in Italy as of this article’s publication.
Examples can be seen here and here .
The text on one post reads: “How many kids have to die before you people wake up!? 12 year olds paying for your stupidity with their life. DO NOT INJECT YOUR CHILDREN”
The posts refer to 12-year-old tennis player Cloe Giani Giavazzi, who died on June 12, 2021 in Milan, Italy. Italian news reports here , here , here and here , say that Giavazzi passed away at her family home in Milan following a “sudden illness”. However, none of the reports mention that Giavazzi received a COVID-19 vaccine prior to her death.
The websites that link the two, examples here and here, refer to unverified tweets as their source of information. (here )
Golarsa Tennis Academy, where Giavazzi played, posted on its Facebook group about her passing, here and here .
Laura Golarsa, founder of Golarsa Academy, told Reuters via email that the claims are “fake”. - do we have a full quote?
Italy has approved three COVID-19 vaccines for use, including the ones produced by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. (here )
A document outlining the vaccine distribution priority can be seen here , provided by the Italian Ministry of Health.
As of June 22, 2021, only a small percentage of the age group 12-19 have received the vaccine (here), making the claim even less likely.
VERDICT
False. Claims that a young tennis player who died in Italy had received the COVID-19 vaccine are unsubstantiated.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work  here  .

Source: Reuters

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