No, Betty White Did Not Have a COVID Booster Right Before Her Death

Debunking a viral social media claim.

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Following the death of Betty White on December 31, 2021, viral posts circulated claiming that she had gotten her coronavirus booster shot only three days prior to her passing, with several implying the vaccine played a role in her death.

Many of the posts include a screenshot of a quote from White, saying: “Eat healthy and get your vaccines. I got my booster today.” The quote is allegedly from an article published on the website of CrowRiverMedia, which was based on an interview White did with People Magazine. Neither piece includes a reference to White getting her booster shot and there’s no record of her ever saying the quote in question. White’s agent, Jeff Witjas, said in a statement to People that White “died peacefully in her sleep at her home.” No further details about her passing have been released, other than police noting that her death appeared to be of natural causes with no evidence of foul play.

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    Ben Connelly

    Sad that people are always using her death to spread vaccine hysteria, but unsurprising.

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  • Richard Fulmer

    Where is this stuff coming from? Countries that want to hurt the U.S. like Russia or China, someone trying to make a buck by inventing click bait, or just a random meme-bomb thrower?

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    Richard Maxton

    Finally, Richard has COME BACK to Dispatch Fact Check!

    Lemme start off by saying this: Best any conspiracy theorists keep Betty White's name outta their whore mouths lest I send Ryan Reynolds, his new best buddy Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and the ghost of Bea Arthur (the second best Golden Girl) to treat them like some jabronis and layeth the smacketh down!!

    The Rock is gonna take his size 16 shoe and shine it up real nice, hand it to Ryan Reynold who will turn that sumabitch sideways, and hand it to the ghost of Bea Arthur who will take that shined up sideways size 16 shoe and shove it straight up their candy asses.

    Betty White is a North American Treasure and I, Ryan Reynolds, the Rock, his MILLIONS and MILLIONS of fans, and (probably) God himself will not stand for any nonsense disrespecting her memory.

    If you ssssssssmmmmmmeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

    What the Rock is cookin'.

    *This message brought to you by Bourbon. For all your drinking needs.

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  • Alex DeLarge

    I don't think her agent is an authority on whether she got a booster shot. Just sayin. Also doesn't anyone recognize that it's a distracting unintentional pun to talk about covid posts "going viral."

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  • Jaybrown

    Social media will end this country (and probably some others). No one under the age of 40 should have a smart phone.

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    1. Jack Webster

      I would agree with your prescription if you also included everyone 40 and over, too.

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      1. Eric L

        I'd love to see the average age of someone sharing this kind of crap.... my facebook circle tells me its only people 35 or older

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      2. Jaybrown

        One has to assume maturity for most people at some age, or our civilization is doomed.

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        1. Jack Webster

          Well, if 40 is the age of maturity we're doomed. The dear people I know who share things of this nature on social media are all over 40.

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            Pat @ Tavi Hall

            Yes, it's the over 40s have lost it.

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    BestUsedCarSales

    Well then what happened? It's not like 99 year olds just up and die!

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    1. Alex DeLarge

      Luckily, she was vaxxed or her condition would be much worse.

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    I assumed perhaps that she finally ate something green.

    Should you eat green things? Not if it is meat. Don't eat green meat.

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    Cordeiro

    Just let the elderly beloved woman shuffle off her mortal coil in peace. Godspeed, Betty.

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    Pat @ Tavi Hall

    Have they no shame?

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      Man-Eating Cow

      Shame is something you experience when you perceive that you are not complying with the social expectations of your in-group.

      Antivaxxers have a remarkably well developed in-group that gives them social support in their beliefs.

      So, no. They have no shame.

      Pity.

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