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Madison Czopek
By Madison Czopek January 23, 2024

Claims that tennis journalist Mike Dickson died from COVID-19 vaccines are not substantiated

If Your Time is short

  • British sports journalist Mike Dickson died Jan. 17 in Melbourne, Australia, where he had been covering the Australian Open tennis tournament. 

  • His wife announced the news on X. The Daily Mail newspaper, for which Dickson was a correspondent, published a story about Dickson’s death. Neither announcement contained information about the cause of death.

  • Dickson had written about a tennis star’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but that does not link Dickson’s death to the vaccines. The vaccines, which have been administered to millions of people in the U.S. alone, are safe and effective at preventing severe illness.

Soon after British tennis journalist Mike Dickson died, social media users began speculating about a cause of death. Dickson, a longtime correspondent for the Daily Mail newspaper, died Jan. 17 in Melbourne, Australia, where he had been covering the Australian Open tennis tournament. 

Vaccine skeptics soon tried to link Dickson’s death and his coverage of tennis star Novak Djokovic, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19. 

One Jan. 21 post put two headlines side by side and drew lines between certain words to make the point.

One Feb. 15, 2022, Daily Mail headline read: "MIKE DICKSON: Novak Djokovic could ruin his chances of becoming the GOAT by refusing to take the vaccine … it is a strange hill to die on for a player who is so desperate to be loved." 

Beneath that was a screengrab from a Jan. 17 article in The Telegraph, with the headline: "Daily Mail tennis correspondent Mike Dickson collapses and dies at Australian Open." It was followed by the subhead: "Dickson, who was due to turn 60 this month, had been enthusiastically covering the tennis in Melbourne this week before his sudden death."

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The post’s caption read, "17 million estimated dead from vaccine and counting," echoing a COVID-19 vaccine death statistic that we recently fact-checked and rated False

The post’s image of the Telegraph story showed the phrase "sudden death" underlined.

(Screenshot from Instagram.)

The phrase "died suddenly" has become a dog whistle people use to discuss their unfounded belief that the COVID-19 vaccines are causing widespread sudden deaths

Another image shared Jan. 20 on Instagram said, "Journalist who tried to cancel Novak Djokovic over not taking COVID vaccine collapses and dies while covering Australian Open."

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

Announcements of his death did not include a cause and did not mention COVID-19 vaccines, and we found no credible news reports linking his death to the vaccines. 

Dickson’s wife, Lucy, posted a Jan. 17 statement on X confirming his death.

"We are devastated to announce that our wonderful husband and Dad, Mike, has collapsed and died while in Melbourne for the Aus Open," it read. "For 38 years he lived his dream covering sport all over the world. He was a truly great man and we will miss him terribly."

The Daily Mail, where Dickson worked for over three decades, also published the news.

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"Dickson was a hugely respected and admired journalist who spent 38 years in the industry … and his loss will be felt deeply by colleagues," read the Jan. 17 article. "Dickson was in Melbourne covering the Australian Open when he died and a matter of days away from his 60th birthday, on January 27."

Dickson wrote about how Djokovic’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 impacted his ability to play in some tournaments, where vaccination was required. Djokovic was unable to compete at the 2022 U.S. Open and Australian Open because of his vaccination status

"If Djokovic is to be excluded from many tournaments for the foreseeable future — and a lot could yet change — this is a strange hill for his hopes to die on," Dickson wrote in 2022. "Most tennis players have now accepted, some albeit reluctantly, that they and their sport are best served by taking a vaccine that has saved countless lives."

We contacted the Daily Mail for comment, but did not hear back. 

In the U.S., more than 250 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the approved vaccines are safe and effective at preventing severe illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The CDC and Food and Drug Administration continue to monitor the vaccines, but "the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination continue to outweigh any potential risks" and severe reactions after vaccination are rare, the CDC said.

Although some COVID-19 vaccines have been linked to rare adverse side effects including blood clots and myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, doctors say the vaccines are safe. The risks of developing blood clots or myocarditis, for example, are higher after having a COVID-19 infection than after being vaccinated. 

Claims that Dickson died from COVID-19 vaccines are not supported by available evidence. His family has not released a cause of death, nor has his former employer. Should additional information surface, we will review it. For now, we rate these claims False.

RELATED: 'Died Suddenly' repeats debunked COVID-19 vaccine claims, promotes conspiracy theory

RELATED: How health incidents like Bronny James’ cardiac arrest fuel COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

Our Sources

Instagram post, Jan. 21, 2024

Instagram post, Jan. 20, 2024 

Instagram post, Jan. 20, 2024

The Associated Press, British tennis writer Mike Dickson dies in Melbourne while covering the Australian Open, Jan. 17, 2024

The Daily Mail, Goodbye Mr Wimbledon: Legendary Mail Sport tennis correspondent Mike Dickson dies aged 59, Jan. 17, 2024

The Daily Mail, MIKE DICKSON: Novak Djokovic could ruin his chances of becoming the GOAT by refusing to take the vaccine… it is a strange hill to die on for a player who is so desperate to be loved, Feb. 15, 2022

News.com.au, ‘How ironic’: Anti-vaxxers hijack tragic Aus Open death, Jan. 22, 2024

Aljazeera, Novak Djokovic can play at US Open as vaccine mandate to end, May 2, 2023

Aljazeera, Explainer: Why Novak Djokovic was not let into Australia, Jan. 6, 2022

The Associated Press, Djokovic out, but vaccine debate stays in Australian Open, Jan. 17, 2022

The New York Times, Still Unvaccinated, Djokovic Says He Will Miss the U.S. Open, Aug. 25, 2022 

BBC, Novak Djokovic willing to miss tournaments over vaccine, Feb. 15, 2022

Health Feedback, The film "Died Suddenly" rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines, Nov. 29, 2022

PolitiFact, Videos of people ‘dropping suddenly’ aren’t related to COVID-19 vaccines, Jan. 31, 2023

PolitiFact, No, 1.1 million Americans did not die suddenly because of the COVID-19 vaccines, Dec. 9, 2022

PolitiFact, Uptick in cases of myocarditis in newborns in Wales linked to enterovirus, not COVID-19 vaccines, May 23, 2023

PolitiFact, 'Died Suddenly' repeats debunked COVID-19 vaccine claims, promotes conspiracy theory, Nov. 29, 2022

PolitiFact, COVID-19 vaccines saved lives, did not cause 17 million deaths, Jan. 17, 2024

PolitiFact, DNA fragments in mRNA COVID-19 vaccines won’t harm you, as Florida surgeon general suggests, Jan. 11, 2024

CBS News, What research shows about risks of myocarditis from COVID vaccines versus risks of heart damage from COVID, March 13, 2023

The American Heart Association, COVID-19 infection poses higher risk for myocarditis than vaccines, Aug. 22, 2022

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination, Sept. 12, 2023

Fox News, Tennis star Novak Djokovic reiterates stance on vaccines: ‘I’m pro-freedom to choose,’ Dec. 11, 2023

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States, May 11, 2023

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines, Nov. 3, 2023

Tennis Threads, Obituary | Mike Dickson, Jan. 21, 2024

People, British tennis writer Mike Dickson dies while covering Australian Open: 'For 38 years he lived his dream,’ Jan. 17, 2024

The Telegraph, Daily Mail tennis correspondent Mike Dickson collapses and dies at Australian Open, Jan. 17, 2024

The Daily Mail, Mike Dickson obituary: Jonathan McEvoy pays an emotional tribute to his friend and colleague, Mail Sport's legendary tennis correspondent who tragically died aged 59 covering the Australian Open, Jan. 17, 2024

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Claims that tennis journalist Mike Dickson died from COVID-19 vaccines are not substantiated

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