An image shared on Facebook claims The New York Times published an op-ed calling for teachers to tolerate the bullying of unvaccinated children.

Verdict: False

The article is digitally fabricated. A spokesperson said the newspaper did not run the headline.

Fact Check:

Pfizer and BioNTech recently applied for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an updated COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for children under five years old, according to Reuters. This updated vaccine is adapted to protect against the Omicron variant, the outlet reported.

The Facebook image claims to show a New York Times opinion article with the headline, “Teachers Should Tolerate Bullying Towards Unvaccinated Children.” The claim was also spread on Twitter, with one iteration receiving hundreds of retweets and over 100,000 views.

This image is a fake article. Check Your Fact looked through The New York Times’ website and did not find any articles matching the one in the Facebook image. A broader internet search also did not yield any results for the alleged article.

“I can confirm The New York Times did not run this headline,” New York Times spokesperson Naseem Amini told Check Your Fact in an email. (RELATED: Did CBC Report That Justin Trudeau Is Calling For An Investigation Into Canada’s Security Services)

Further adding to the dubiousness of the image is that the word “Opinion” is in black, while on the website, the word is usually colored red, which can be seen here. The claim first circulated in December 2021 when it was debunked by The Associated Press, USA Today and others.

Fake articles and headlines are often spread on social media. Check Your Fact recently debunked an image claiming the CBC reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for an investigation into Canada’s security services.