FB user faces action over fake news

IPOH: Police are ready to act against a Facebook user for spreading fake news about the death of a policeman after receiving a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Perak police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the policeman from Gerik, Corporal Rakmin Yusoff, was being treated at Taiping Hospital due to a heart attack.

“It is untrue. He (the policeman) has regained consciousness and is in stable condition.

“He will be referred to the National Heart Institute soon.

“Stern action will be taken against the person for irresponsibly spreading false news on the vaccine-related death involving the policeman.

“Such an act will spark uncertainty among the people on the Covid-19 vaccination.

“The policeman’s family is also impacted by the false news,” he said in a statement.

Mior advised people to verify any information they received before sharing it.

Earlier, the Perak Health Department had denied that a 58year-old policeman in Gerik died from complications after receiving a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Director Datuk Dr Ding Lay Ming, when contacted yesterday, briefly said: “Fake news.”

According to the viral message on social media, the policeman with the rank of corporal was rushed to Gerik Hospital due to complications related to the Covid-19 vaccination and was pronounced dead soon after.

Gerik district police chief Superintendent Zulkifli Mahmood, when contacted, had also denied the matter.

“The policeman is being treated at the hospital (Gerik Hospital) for his illness, not due to complications related to the Covid-19 vaccination.

“The viral message is not true. He didn’t die because of the Covid-19 vaccine.”

In Perak, 33,503 frontliners, including 10,924 in the police force, had been listed for inoculation under the first phase of the National Immunisation Programme.