EXCLUSIVE: The wealthy mum and former ABC political reporter who sparked an anti-vaxxer pile-on falsely linking the Covid-19 vaccine to a Year 12 boy's sudden death - forcing his school to take an extraordinary step to hit back hard

A private school has hit out at at disgraceful anti-vaxxers who claimed the sudden death of one of its Year 12 students was caused by the Covid vaccine. 

St Pius X College student Tom Van Dijk, 17, died at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during a swim with his family on August 21.  

Virginia Nicholls, a former ABC political reporter and  Channel 10 presenter, was the first to spark the vicious rumour mill after she tweeted an unsubstantiated report. 

St Pius X College student Tom Van Dijk, 17, died at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during a swim with his family on August 21

Former ABC political reporter Virginia Nicholls was the first to spark the vicious rumour mill that claimed the student died 'shortly after' receiving a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine

In the since-deleted post she claimed the 17-year-old had died 'shortly after' receiving a jab of the Pfizer vaccine at western Sydney's Homebush mass vaccination centre. 

'A year 12 student from a Sydney Catholic College has reportedly died of a heart attack shortly after receiving the Pfizer jab at the mass vaccination clinic at Homebush,' she tweeted on Sunday.

'A champion swimmer, he went into cardiac arrest after a swim.'

Ms Nicholls also claimed there had been 'unconfirmed reports' of two other teen deaths, but did not clarify how they died. 

On Monday, she explained she had decided to delete the tweets after two different people from the college informed her Tom had not been vaccinated.

However, her tweet and a letter to parents from the school announcing Tom's death were widely shared on social media by hundreds of anti-vaxxers. 

Daily Mail Australia contacted Ms Nicholls for comment. 

In the since-deleted tweet Ms Nicholls claimed the Pius X College student had died 'shortly after' a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a mass vaccination clinic in Homebush

Ms Nicholls  claims to have worked for major vaccine manufacturer Merck for seven years and was a stakeholder relations manager at Westpac Bank

Ms Nicholls regularly posts content that casts doubt on the validity and effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines on her Facebook page and Twitter profile.

She recently reposted a video of New Zealand doctor Matt Shelton 'speaking out' against the 'dangers' of the Covid vaccine despite threats to his medical license, describing the GP as 'courageous'.

'Appearing before the NZ Medical Council, Dr Shelton says he can’t in good conscience support Covid vaccinations, especially in children,' she wrote.   

On Monday night she announced her Twitter would be made private for 'safety and privacy reasons' and said she had received deaths threats in recent weeks.

'For those interested in my research on Covid, vaccines, new treatments, lockdowns etc, I’d love you to follow me on Twitter,' she wrote.  

Ms Nicholls claims to have worked for major vaccine manufacturer Merck for seven years and was a stakeholder relations manager at Westpac Bank. 

She used her experience at Merck to justify her spruiking of ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasite infestations, to treat Covid.

Ivermectin is widely promoted by anti-vaxxers as an effective treatment for coronavirus, but this has been conclusively debunked by medical experts  and having no benefit whatsoever.

On Monday, Ms Nicholls explained she had decided to delete her tweets after two different people from the college informed her Tom had not been vaccinated 

The former reporter announced her Twitter would be made private for 'safety and privacy reasons' and said she had received deaths threats in recent weeks

Pius X College principal John Couani was forced to deny rumours the student died shortly after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. 

'Despite the clear communication from the college, there have been many insensitive and grossly inaccurate reports on social media,' he wrote on the school's Facebook page on Tuesday night.    

Mr Couani said the Chatswood school and Tom's parents wanted to make it clear that he was not vaccinated and 'had not been eligible for vaccination due to his age'.

He denied rumours the school pressured students to get a jab and said it was not located in one of Sydney's 12 LGAs of concern.

'There has not been any vaccination program offered to our Year 12 students by the NSW Government at this point,' he wrote. 

The principal said Tom returned a negative Covid-19 test while in hospital and there were no concerns for his mental health and wellbeing. 

'It is very disappointing that a statement such as this needs to be made and the College now asks that respect is shown to allow for the family and community to grieve the loss of this brilliant and talented young man,' Mr Couani said.  

'The school community is profoundly grieving Tom’s passing, but also celebrating his wonderful gifts and we pay tribute to Tom as an outstanding academic student, gifted sportsman and accomplished musician. 

'May perpetual light shine upon Tom, may he rest in peace.' 

The death of Tom Van Dijk has been hijacked by anti-vaxxers wrongly claiming he died after receiving a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine

The Pius X College principal John Couani said he wanted to make it clear that Tom was not vaccinated and 'had not been eligible for vaccination due to his age'

The principal previously told The North Shore Times the school community was in a period of terrible grief and sorrow and the misinformation had to stop. 

Mr Couani described rumours on social media that the school pressured students to get vaccinated against the virus as overwhelming and 'horrific'.  

Another circulating post on Facebook falsely claimed a 'suppression order' was preventing the school or the media from identifying the teenager. 

Karl Stefanovic slammed the 'thousands of faceless keyboard warriors' that hijacked the student's death to push their own anti-vaxxer agendas. 

'His school, already dealing with grief amongst students, was forced to confirm he hadn't even had a vaccination yet,' the Today show host said on Wednesday. 

'That information, that misinformation is horrific. People bought it and spread it. Imagine the added stress on that poor young man's family.'

Members of the Pius X College community were quick to send their condolences to the student's loved ones and school community on social media. 

'My son was a school mate of Tom’s. It’s a very sad time for all of the boys coming to terms with the loss of their friend,' one mother wrote.

'My heart absolutely breaks for Tom’s family, friends and the school community. So sorry your loss is compounded by these absolutely disgraceful and insensitive people,' a second commented. 

'Devastating enough to lose a young community member, but to have to clarify these things, are just additional pain that the family do not need,' another wrote. 

Tom Van Dijk has been described as a high achieving academic student, champion swimmer and an accomplished violinist

School principal Mr Couani described Tom in a letter sent to the wider school community as an 'incredible young man who was loved by all'

'Our deepest condolences to the Van Dijk family, Tom was a gorgeous young man taken way too young,' a fourth shared. 

Mr Couani described Tom in a letter sent to the wider school community as an 'incredible young man who was loved by all'.  

'He helped others, was a friend to everyone in Year 12 and had some many incredible gifts as a high achieving academic student, champion swimmer and an accomplished violinist,' the principal said in the statement.

'There are many students in the younger grades who would know Tom, and all will attest to his strong but gentle nature and the care he gave to younger students.'

He said the teenager had told his parents before his death he wanted to donate his organs to help others in need.