Fake news has been circulating on social media that the first volunteer in the Oxford vaccine trial has died. This is not true! I spent several minutes this morning chatting with Elisa Granato via Skype. She is very much alive and told me she is feeling “absolutely fine”

Elisa said she was going to “chill and enjoy the nice weather today”. She has a group chat with her family and has reassured them in case they see reports of her death. She also thanked people for their positive messages online

The head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Prof Andrew Pollard, who is leading the trial said “this sort of fake news could damage our ability to tackle a pandemic. We can’t let that happen.”

Links to the article were posted in a number of Facebook groups which oppose vaccination. The claim has circulated in several languages. Some of the posts have now been removed.