Viral video exaggerates vaccine side effects in children and falsely urges parents to avoid vaccination
IN SHORT: A viral anti-vaccine video in Nigeria uses unrelated clips of children in rehabilitation to scare parents about vaccination. But evidence shows vaccines are rigorously tested, closely monitored and vital in protecting children from serious diseases. Side effects are rare and usually mild.
Several Facebook users have posted a video of a man warning against children’s vaccination in Nigeria.
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The video posted on 17 April 2026 shows a man reacting to various clips overlaid on the video of him. The clips show children and young people who appear to be undergoing various forms of physical therapy.
It is captioned: “Breaking news!!!* *Please there is a deadly vaccine coming up in Nigeria.* *We urge all parents, teachers and friends to be vigilant,* *Well just be vigilant for now* *Dr. Ismaila Temitope* *Please inform as many people you can reach also send to any platform you belong.*”
The man claims Bill Gates visited Nigeria, misled the president about child mortality in northern Nigeria, and plans to introduce vaccines through schools in 2026 as part of a US$150 billion scheme.
The man warns Nigerians not to allow their kids to be vaccinated if they don’t want them to experience such “abnormalities”.
Gates is a US-born billionaire philanthropist, who co-founded technology giant Microsoft. He is also a major funder of global health programmes, including efforts to eradicate diseases like polio and malaria, through the Gates Foundation.
Disclosure: The Gates Foundation was one of Africa Check’s funders, providing 16% of our income in 2024.
The man in the video repeats the conspiracy theory that Gates uses vaccines to sterilise or harm populations, particularly in Africa.
Vaccines are medical products that safely train the immune system to recognise and fight certain diseases without causing serious illness.
In Nigeria, children are mostly vaccinated for free at government health centres, according to the national immunisation schedule.
The Nigerian government said in November 2025 it was seeking to raise N150 billion ($109 million at current rates) to fund vaccine procurement for 2025 and 2026 to strengthen immunisation and improve health outcomes.
The same video was found here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But what’s the truth behind this video and the claims the man makes? We investigated.
Clips unrelated to vaccines
Africa Check broke the video into frames and ran a Google Lens search. This led us to another Facebook post, dated 2 January 2026, showing the same man, promoting “Alkaforce”, a substance he claims can “detoxify” the body and restore menstruation.
The page features several videos of the man, suggesting he is linked to it. But we could not find the original video with the claims about vaccination and Bill Gates.
A link from the Facebook page led to a website called “Daily Life Savers”, which appears to be a business owned by this man. We also found the video of him promoting “Alkaforce” on his personal Facebook account.
A reverse image search of the overlaid clips of the children led us to an Instagram video posted on 13 March 2026. But there is nothing in the post linking these children’s conditions to vaccines or anything related. The post’s caption is written in Uzbek, the official language of Uzbekistan.
The Instagram page appears to belong to a business called “Alisher Axmedov Rehab”. Alisher Axmedov is described as a “Child Rehabilitation Specialist” offering “physical exercise therapy” and “massage” in Tashkent, Samarkand and Khorezm, three places in Uzbekistan. The page mainly shares videos of children in physical therapy.
Vaccine misinformation
Concerns about vaccine safety are common, but global health organisations have repeatedly counseled that vaccines are safe and essential for public health.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the UN agency working to protect children’s rights, health, nutrition, education and safety, say vaccines have saved over 154 million lives, 95% of whom were children under five.
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Vaccines can cause mild reactions like fever, swelling or soreness at the injection site, but these are not as serious as the speaker makes them seem in the video. These reactions are usually temporary, and show the vaccine is working.
According to Unicef, serious side effects are very rare, affecting only one in a million vaccinated children.
In Nigeria, vaccines are monitored for safety and effectiveness by health authorities, including the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the World Health Organization.
The WHO estimates that childhood vaccination prevents about 4 million deaths worldwide every year.
The video exaggerates the side effects of vaccines using unrelated clips of children with different health conditions.
The same video was found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.