Tiffany Dover is alive, despite persistent claims to the contrary

NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny recently published a report that should have put to rest unfounded claims that Tiffany Dover, a nurse who fainted after getting her first COVID-19 vaccine dose in December 2020 in Tennessee, had died.

"Tiffany Dover is alive," Zadrozny wrote. "Sitting across from Tiffany at her kitchen table, this is obvious. She breathes in and out. She gestures with her hands. She laughs generously." 

Dover withdrew from the public eye after fainting on camera. She stopped posting on her social media accounts and gave no interviews. She told Zadrozny that the hospital directed her not to post online or take outside calls. But that silence seemed to fuel the flames of a conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 vaccine had killed her. 

Now that Dover is newly back online, and in the news, some people are still claiming that she’s dead and that the person who appears in her social media posts isn’t her but a dupe. 

"They think we are so stupid," reads one Instagram post, sharing a TikTok video Dover made and shared on Instagram on April 10. "Tiffany Dover has resurrected."

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on March 20, 2024 in an Instagram post

A study that found sunbathing can increase the risk of heart disease is a cover-up for the “side-effects of the vax.”

Comments on the post range from "this woman doesn’t look like her at all" to "Lol after people have been looking for her for years, she’s coming out of the blue?! Please."

This post was 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.)

Dover has lightened her hair since she fainted in 2020. It’s now blond rather than dark brown. But a trip to the salon does not amount to a conspiracy theory. Her bright blue eyes are the same color as they were in 2020. And back then, the hospital where she was employed repeatedly responded to rumors of her death and later confirmed to PolitiFact that she was, indeed, alive. 

"Hey guys, I know it’s been a really long time and I don’t even know where to begin, but I guess I could start with: I’m alive," Dover says in the TikTok video that’s drawing claims that she’s not who she says she is. 

Those claims are baseless. We rate them Pants on Fire!