Multiple images posted on Instagram claim rapper DMX received a Covid-19 vaccine days before a heart attack before he died aged 50 on 9 April 2021.
This claim was first shared by American gossip website MTO News. The same story was reported by a number of other US media outlets and elsewhere on social media.
However, the only person attesting to the claim about the vaccine is an unnamed family member.
The article also does not state which vaccine DMX received, if any. It is not yet clear what caused his heart attack.
A follow-up report by USA Today states DMX’s attorney, Murray Richman, said the rapper had not received a Covid-19 vaccine a week before his heart attack, and wasn’t sure if he’d received it before that. New York residents aged 50 and over were eligible for the vaccine from 22 March. The MTO News article has been updated to reflect this.
Furthermore, even if DMX had received the vaccine, there is no evidence linking the use of the vaccine to heart attacks or cardiac arrests. And separately, the British Heart Foundation says all three vaccines used in the UK are safe for people with heart and circulatory conditions.