Celebrity anti-vaxxers who died of COVID-19

KRISTEN LOWERY: She left behind four children. Lowery, 40, was a figurehead on social media, proclaiming her anti-mask and vaccine views that garnered high praise. Lowery had proclaimed herself a “free thinker” who wanted to “give a voice to the vaccine injured”. She died in September last week, leaving behind 4 children, the Daily Mail reported. Before she died, Lowery reportedly posted anti-vaccination material on Facebook, describing herself as an "ex-vaxxer".

STEPHEN HARMON: Harmon, 34, who lived in Los Angeles, mocked Covid-19 vaccines. “I got 99 problems but a vax ain't one," Harmon said in a tweet in June. He died of the virus on July 21, 2021, Riverside County Sheriff's Department told local media.

HAI SHAULIAN: The well-known Israeli anti-vaxx leader Hai Shaulian died of COVID-19 died on Monday (September 13, 2021) morning at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel. The anti-vaccine activist said ‘there's no epidemic- the vaccine is unnecessary and dangerous’.

DANIEL TRUJILLIO: Daniel 'Duke' Trujillo, 33, died in May from "COVID-19 complications". Trujillo, an ex-Marine and the Denver Sheriff's deputy, had shared a string of anti-vax posts on social media, according to The Daily Mail. On May 7, Trujillo changed his Facebook profile picture border to read “I have an immune system,” an apparent rationale for not getting inoculated.

KALI COOK: The Texas girl, 4, died in her sleep after contracting COVID-19, likely off her vehemently anti-vax mother, Karra Harwood. “I was one of the people that was anti, I was against it,” the mother was quoted as saying. “Now, I wish I never was.”

MARC BERNIER: Bernier, a Daytona, Florida, talk radio host dubbed himself “Mr. Anti-Vax” in December while assuring his listeners “I’m not taking it.” Bernier contracted COVID-19 and his death was announced by his radio station –– WNDB — which had awkwardly acknowledged his on-air “anti-vaccine” commentary just before his passing.

DICK FARREL: Farrel Austin Levitt, 65, known professionally as Dick Farrel, was an American conservative media personality and anti-vaccine activist. The Newsmax radio host spent the last weeks of his life claiming that the vaccine is “Bogus B*** s**t],” referring to the pandemic as a “SCAM DEMIC,” and suggesting that the delta variant is an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Dr Anthony Fauci, whom he called "power tripping lying freak", to keep Americans fearing for their lives. Instead of taking scientifically-backed precautions beforehand, Farrel opted to ask his Facebook followers if “hydroxychloroquine from Canada” is safe in early July after stating, “When a gubberment denies u access to HCQ [it’s] obvious they want you dead.” After he became ill, his condition rapidly worsened and died August 4, 2021 from a “severe damage” from COVID-19.

TOD TUCKER: On August 11, 2021 Tod Tucker, a pro-Trump radio programmer, died “following the onset of viral pneumonia as the result of COVID-19,” according to his employer. Tucker had previously mocked the idea of receiving the vaccine, allegedly writing in a March Facebook post, “Please stop bragging that you got your COVID vaccine. What do you want us to say? ‘Congratulations lab rat?!’”

JIMMY DEYOUNG SR.: DeYoung, 80, a religious radio host, was hospitalised August 7, 2021 for COVID-19 and died not long after. In February, DeYoung told his listeners that the COVID-19 vaccine could “be another form of government control of the people” during a segment on his show in which he and his guest regurgitated conspiracy theories about Pfizer using the vaccine to commit “mass sterilisation”.

PHIL VALENTINE: Valentine, 61, a talk radio host and vaccine skeptic, in a blog post, advised those who are not in the “high-risk” demography to not get the vaccine, and bet that his odds of dying from COVID-19 were “way less than one percent.” In late July, Valentine was reported to be in a “very serious condition, suffering from COVID pneumonia” and suddenly reversed his stance on vaccines, according to his family members. “Phil would like for his listeners to know that while he has never been an ‘anti-vaxer’ he regrets not being more vehemently ‘pro-vaccine,’” his radio station 99.7 WTN shared in a statement. On August 11, Valentine’s employer Cumulus Media, through CEO Mary Berner, stated that everyone who works in Cumulus Media’s corporate offices must be fully vaccinated by October 11, 2021.

BOB ENYART: Enyart, 62, pastor of the Denver Bible Church, died Monday (September 13, 2021), according to a Facebook post by his co-host, Fred Williams. Enyart’s  Real Science Radio Show website lambasted what he described as the “imagined” burden of COVID-19 cases on hospitals, offered advice on treating the virus from the Bible, and accused “fake news” outlets of exaggerating the severity of the virus. He had opted against getting the vaccine, citing the nonsensical claim that COVID-19 vaccines rely on “cells of aborted babies.” Enyart was also at the center of a legal battle against the state last year over coronavirus-related restrictions in places of worship. He successfully sued to shut down capacity limits and stop mask mandates in churches.

SAMMIE-JO FORDE & HEATHER MADDERN: The anti-vaxxer mother-and-daughter team died just days apart in a Belfast hospital after they contracted Covid-19, leaving their family “devastated”. The BBC reported that Sammie-Jo Forde, 32, died in the Ulster hospital on Saturday (September 11, 2021), where she had been treated on the same ward as her mother, Heather Maddern, 55, who died on 31 August. Maddern had shared a number of Covid conspiracy theories before her death, as well as a post about nurses facing dismissal if they refused the jab. She also shared videos from Candace Owens, a conservative commentator and activist from the US, on how to respond if your employer forces you to be vaccinated, and another from a woman arguing against children being jabbed.