Astonishingly an Argentinian news channel delivered what it thought was a stunning scoop last week when it reported that the great Bard William Shakespeare, “one of the most important writers in the English language” had died five months after receiving the Covid vaccine.
Newsreader Noelia Novillo delivered the ‘Shakespearean‘ level gaffe on Canal 26, having mixed up the icon with 81-year-old William “Bill” Shakespeare, who became the second person in the world to get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in England.
William Shakespeare died in 1616, while his namesake, at the time of his first vaccination – died this week from a stroke unrelated to the jab.
Novillo informed viewers of the playwright’s death on Thursday. “We’ve got news that has stunned all of us given the greatness of this man,” she said. “We’re talking about William Shakespeare and his death. We’ll let you know how and why it happened.”
Over footage of Bill Shakespeare chatting as he received the vaccine, the newsreader added: “As we all know, he’s one of the most important writers in the English language – for me the master. Here he is. He was the first man to get the coronavirus vaccine. He’s died in England at the age of 81.”
After an explosive social media reaction , the mortified Novillo explained that she had expressed herself badly and blamed the error on absent punctuation.
“Over the past few hours, as I’m sure you will have seen, a report has gone viral. I actually knew what I was saying to people, just like I always do,” she said on Friday.
“I expressed myself badly; I missed out a full stop, a comma, some brackets. I wanted to clear up something that was very unclear and of course people misinterpreted it.”
