No, Rod Stewart’s son didn’t suffer a COVID-19 vaccine-induced heart attack

Two headlines juxtaposed on social media leave users to draw one conclusion: A COVID-19 vaccine triggered a recent hospital trip for the son of British singer Rod Stewart. 

"Rod Stewart reveals his son Aiden, 11, was rushed to hospital in an ambulance with a suspected heart attack after collapse at football match," reads a Dec. 7 Daily Mail headline. 

Below it, a Metro headline from Dec. 3, 2021: "Rod Stewart: Only triple-vaccinated guests will be invited to my Christmas party." 

"Not Rod Stewart & Penny Lancaster’s kid, now, too," an Instagram post sharing the headlines said, using a syringe emoji and hashtags including #va$$ine."

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We contacted Stewart’s manager about the claim but didn’t immediately hear back. 

However, the Daily Mail story mentions neither COVID-19 nor vaccines.

Featured Fact-check

Threads posts

stated on October 20, 2024 in a Threads post

Former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social and addressed claims of his “incontinence,” saying, “I don’t poop myself.”

It does say — in the first sentence — that Stewart said the suspected heart attack was actually a panic attack. 

Citing an interview with Stewart in a recent issue of the soccer magazine FourFourTwo, the Daily Mail quotes Stewart saying: "We thought my boy had a heart attack. He was going blue and was unconscious until he calmed down. It was scary, but it turned out to be a panic attack. The lad wanted to do well."

We rate claims that he was rushed to the hospital because of a COVID-19 vaccine Pants on Fire!