Poster-girl for anti-vaxxers who fainted getting first COVID shot says she faced abuse and stalking

A nurse who involuntarily became a poster girl for anti-vaxxers when she fainted on camera receiving one of the first COVID-19 shots has spoken out about the harassment she has faced in the years since. 

Tiffany Dover says she was even accused of being part of a pedophile ring following her fateful collapse in December 2020, but she has spoken out in an interview with NBC Nightly News, saying: ‘I didn’t die that day, but the life I knew did.’ 

Dover received the vaccine on a livestream as part of the nationwide push to promote the vaccine and its benefits against fighting the pandemic.

But instead of helping the cause, she unwittingly became an icon for anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists, who attempted to paint her collapse as proof over the shot’s alleged dangers.

‘People thought that I was dead,’ she continued. ‘People thought that I was an actress, that I was paid to do this or paid off by big pharma. It was completely overwhelming.’ 

In the widely circulated clip, Dover was seen receiving the vaccine before attempting to address reporters. But she quickly appeared unwell, before muttering ‘I’m sorry’ as she fell into the arms of nearby medical professionals.  

‘(My collapse) ended up creating the opposite effect of what I would have liked,’ said the frontline nurse.

‘It’s hard to think that you are being used to deter somebody from getting the vaccine,’ she continued. ‘And that was really hard for me to cope with.’ 

The viral clip of her fainting in the moments after receiving the shot was instantly latched upon by conspiracy fanatics, and Dover has now offered a glimpse at the ordeal she went through in the aftermath of her reluctant fame. 

‘I had people showing up at my house, I had people reaching out to my friends and family, I even received death threats,’ she said. 

When asked if her reluctant fame made her fear for her family’s safety, she responded: ‘Absolutely yes.’ 

The nurse said that at first she wanted to speak out and combat the false theories surrounding her, before claiming that she was told by her hospital, CHI Memorial Hospital Chattanooga: ‘That absolutely will not happen.’ 

Dover, who is no longer employed as a nurse at the hospital, added that she was told breaking her silence would cause ‘irrevocable damage’ to the institution if she suffered ‘another episode’. 

CHI Memorial Hospital has been contacted by DailyMail.com for response to these claims.  

Now speaking out over two years later, the nurse said she regrets the way the incident was allowed to be used for fuel for anti-vaccine conspiracies.

‘I wish that we would have used it as a platform to speak out, in the fact that people do pass out after getting vaccines, but that is not a reason to not proceed with getting them.’ 

She added that the swath of false claims and aggressive theories about her led her to shy away from the spotlight as she didn’t wish to be in the public eye. 

‘I was in a dark place and I did not have it in me to do this, because I didn’t know if I could trust you,’ she said in her interview.  

The following years were met with silence by Dover, and she said she is now remorseful over her decision not to release any form of statement that may have combatted the theories about her. 

She added: ‘That would have been a perfect moment for us to speak out. Yes, I did pass out, this could be a side effect – you can pass out from receiving a vaccine.

‘But that’s OK because it can also save your life, so it’s worth it. The silence is what flames this.’ 

Reporter Brandy Zadrozny added after her interview with Dover for her ‘Truthers: Tiffany Dover Is Dead’ podcast that the nurse became ‘terrified’ of social media ‘because of all the harassment, people were showing up at her house, claiming they were part of pedophile rings. It was just snowballing out of control’. 

Dover, who said she has fainted numerous times in the past, admitted that she regretted her reaction to receiving the shot as it denied her the chance to speak about the shot to reporters. 

‘I wanted so badly to tell what this vaccine meant to me,’ she continued. ‘I thought that I could just push through because it was important to me and I thought my body might respect that, but it didn’t care – it did what it does.’ 

Dover said her ordeal as a reluctant anti-vaccine hero came after a grueling stint in the ICU, where her prior role as a specialist in cardiac patients was replaced by the urgency of the pandemic. 

With visitors not allowed to enter the premises, nurses were forced to hold iPads to say goodbye to their loved ones, and she said the time left her feeling ‘hopeless’. 

‘Almost like we were a palliative care unit. Death after death, after death.’