In January 2023, CTV reporter Jessica Robb was in the middle of a field segment, during which things seemed to be going smoothly until the reporter abruptly stopped, swallowed hard, and appeared to gather herself for a moment. When she continued, she began immediately stumbling over her words, and the alarm in her eyes was enough to let viewers know that she hadn’t simply skipped her morning coffee. When she became unable to continue, she apologized to anchor Nahreman Issa, saying, “I’m not feeling very well right now, and I’m about to …” As her words trailed off, Issa took over, telling viewers they would make sure Robb was alright; the camera caught the correspondent beginning to sway before cutting back to the studio.
The exact nature of Robb’s episode was not disclosed by CTV, but Robb did make a full recovery, thanking viewers for their support on X (formerly known as Twitter). The clip of the incident went viral, and of course, there was a subset of users who took the opportunity to shame Robb for having gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, which they insisted was responsible for her illness. In her statement, Robb put these users right into their place. “My understanding of my own medical background provides a reasonable explanation for what happened,” she wrote. “The situation was in no way related to the Covid-19 vaccine.”
