Celine Dion revealed earlier this month that she has been diagnosed with a neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome. The disease is extremely rare and causes progressive muscle stiffness and painful spasms, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Some social media users are claiming the disease is a side effect of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
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"Celine Dion was disabled from a KNOWN SIDE EFFECT of the COVID vaccine -- 99.6% certainty," reads the title of a Dec. 15 Substack post.
The post, which was shared on Facebook more than 700 times in a week, came from Steve Kirsch, a tech millionaire and founder of the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund who regularly spreads COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, according to MIT Technology Review.
A similar Instagram post implying the disease is an adverse reaction to the vaccine garnered more than 3,000 likes in 10 days. Similar versions of the claim have been shared on Instagram and Facebook.
The claim is false. Though Pfizer listed stiff person syndrome as an "adverse event of special interest" in a 2021 report, this doesn't mean the disease is a side effect of the vaccine. The company says it is monitoring adverse events closely, but they have not been proven to have a causal relationship with the vaccine.
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