Absurd and Notable Stories from the COVID-19 Pandemic
A review of the literature
by John Morrison
April 3, 2025
ABSURD FRAUD
In June 2023, analysis by the AP found that the government distributed $4.2 trillion in Covid relief aid, with over $400 billion lost to fraud, waste, or misspending. LexisNexis Risk Management estimated in April 2024 that $1 trillion was stolen, making it the biggest public fraud in history. The Pentagon funneled $1 billion to build up America’s medical supplies to defense contractors.
In June 2023, the AP conducted an analysis on COVID-19 relief funding and found that:
Fraudsters may have stolen over $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding
An additional $123 was lost to waste or mispending.
At that time, the government had allocated some $4.2 trillion in relief aid.
Larry Turner, the inspector general of the Department of Labor, estimated in February 2023 that at least $191 billion in unemployment benefits were improperly paid.
The Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration revealed in June 2023 that fraudsters also potentially stole more than $200 billion in COVID-19 loans distributed by the Small Business Administration.
NBC 15 News reported in April 2024 on the new top-line estimate of COVID-19 aid fraud. LexisNexis Risk Management now estimates that $1 trillion was lost, making it the biggest public fraud in history.
Haywood Talcove, CEO of the firm, testified to the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in February 2025 that seventy percent of that $1 trillion went overseas.
In March 2020, Congress allocated the Pentagon $1 billion to build up America’s medical supplies, but it instead gave most of the money to defense contractors for purchases like dress uniforms, body armor, and jet engine parts.
A 70-year-old Seattle man hospitalized for sixty-two days with Covid-19 was billed over $1.1 million, but the amount was reported to be covered by Medicare.
Michael Flor was in the hospital for sixty-two days and almost died. Flor received a 181-page bill coming to $1,122,501.04 that included:
“$9,736 per day for the intensive care room”
“Nearly $409,000 for its transformation into a sterile room for 42 days”
“$82,000 for the use of a ventilator for 29 days”
“Nearly $100,000 for two days when his prognosis was life-threatening.”
ABSURD REASONING
Twitter temporarily blocked President Trump’s campaign accounts in August 2020 after he said children were “almost immune” to Covid-19, while Facebook deleted a clip. Analysis by The Telegraph had already found that children were far more likely to be hit by lightning than to die from Covid-19.
In August 2020, Donald Trump stated in an interview with Fox News that children were “almost immune” to Covid-19, and his campaign went on to post the clips on social media.
However, Facebook deleted the offending post, and Twitter temporarily suspended the campaign account until the clip was removed.
But the Telegraph had already conducted an analysis that found children under the age of 15 were “more likely to be hit by lightning than die from coronavirus.”
Potentially hundreds of thousands of people died in the US because of the effects of lockdowns, but these deaths are often instead attributed to the pandemic generally. One example is lockdown isolation, potentially causing the 13,200 excess dementia deaths recorded by September 2020.
Researchers writing in the Wall Street Journal estimated that there were almost 100,000 “non-Covid excess deaths” in 2020 and 2021, and that these figures likely underestimated deaths from non-COVID-19 causes while overestimating deaths from COVID-19.
As early as October 2020, researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University found that almost 75,000 Americans may have died indirectly because of disruptions caused by the pandemic.
The deaths include patients with chronic diseases such as dementia, diabetes, and heart disease who could not access healthcare and people suffering from emotional crises that led to suicides or drug overdoses.
The Washington Post reported in September 2020 that the US had seen an additional 13,200 excess deaths from Alzheimer’s and dementia since the start of the pandemic.
Two-thirds of Alzheimer’s caregivers in the US have observed a decline in the memory or behaviour of their loved ones since lockdown restrictions began.
In June 2020, over 1,200 healthcare professionals signed an open letter expressing their concern that the George Floyd protests could be shut down due to fears over the spread of COVID-19. Many studies claimed the protests did not lead to an increase in infections, but this fact did not lead to conversations on the safety of outdoor events or mixing of households in the summer.
CNN reported on extracts of the letter,
“We created the letter in response to emerging narratives that seemed to malign demonstrations as risky for the public health because of Covid-19. Instead, we wanted to present a narrative that prioritizes opposition to racism as vital to the public health, including the epidemic response.”
“We believe that the way forward is not to suppress protests in the name of public health but to respond to protesters' demands in the name of public health, thereby addressing multiple public health crises.”
“However, as public health advocates, we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission. We support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.”
“We can show that support by facilitating safest protesting practices without detracting from demonstrators’ ability to gather and demand change. This should not be confused with a permissive stance on all gatherings, particularly protests against stay-home orders.”
Dr Abby Hussein, an infectious disease fellow at the University of Washington, called racism a “life or death matter” for black Americans, telling CNN,
“While everyone is concerned about the risk of Covid, there are risks with just being black in this country that almost outweigh that sometimes… It’s something they’re doing because if they don’t fight for this now, they may never be able to fight for it in the future, because while Covid is right now, and we don’t know how long it’s going to last, white supremacy and oppression has been a long way longer, and we can guarantee that it’s going to continue if people don’t do anything about it now.”
Outlets were quick to report that the protests had no impact on infections:
The National Bureau of Economic Research released a 60-page paper that concluded the protests didn’t cause a notable increase in COVID-19 infections.
San Diego University said there was “no evidence” the protests led to a significant surge in infections three weeks later.
Researchers from Harvard, Northeastern, Northwestern, and Rutgers found that the protests weren’t a major cause of a rise in COVID-19 infections.
However, one study found that “in the eight cities analyzed, all had positive abnormal growth in infection rate. In six of the eight cities, infection rate growth was positive and significant.”
Anthony Fauci testified to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that he didn’t recall evidence or studies for the six-feet distancing rule and for children wearing masks. He also absolved himself of responsibility for lockdowns.
Fauci testified to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic behind closed doors in January 2024, and the transcripts were released in May 2024.
National Review reported on the following exchange about the distancing rule:
“You know, I don’t recall. It sort of just appeared. I don’t recall, like, a discussion of whether it should be 5 or 6 or whatever,” Fauci testified toward the end of day two.
“Did you see any studies that supported 6 feet?” a subcommittee staffer followed up.
“I was not aware of studies that — in fact, that would be a very difficult study to do,” Fauci conceded.
Upon further questioning, Fauci said six feet was “an empiric decision that wasn’t based on data or even data that could be accomplished.”
National Review reported on the following exchange about masking for children:
“Do you recall reviewing any studies or data supporting masking for children?” a staffer asked Fauci.
“You know, I might have, Mitch, but I don’t recall specifically that I did. I might have,” Fauci replied.
In an April 2023 interview with the New York Times, Fauci responded to a question about heavy-handed policies by saying,
"Show me a school that I shut down and show me a factory that I shut down. Never. I never did.”
“I gave a public health recommendation that echoed the CDC’s recommendation, and people made a decision based on that. But I never criticized the people who had to make the decisions one way or the other.”
The lab leak was consistently derided as a conspiracy theory even though the zoonotic spillover theory was never proven. As late as August 2024, Michael Hiltzik wrote in the LA Times that the theory was “an attack on science,” a “threat to public health,” and the evidence for it “nonexistent.”
The BBC, Guardian, and ABC all published articles calling the lab leak theory a conspiracy, while the New York Times called it a “fringe theory.” As late as August 2024, Michael Hiltzik wrote in the LA Times that the theory was “an attack on science,” a “threat to public health,” and the evidence for it “nonexistent.”
President Biden told a CNN town hall in July 2021 that vaccinated people can’t get Covid, he also said they can’t be hospitalized or die. Biden would later test positive for COVID-19 multiple times. Meanwhile, sixty-six percent of New York Covid-19 cases that resulted in hospitalization by May 2020 were people who stayed home, while another twenty-two percent were in homes.
In July 2021, Joe Biden took part in a CNN town hall hosted by Don Lemon. He made the following claims:
“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.”
“If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in the IC unit, and you’re not going to die.”
Not only were these claims false, but Biden would test positive for COVID-19 in July 2022 and again in July 2024.
New York conducted a coronavirus survey and released the results in May 2020. The International Business Times reported that:
“66% came from their homes, 18% from nursing homes, and 4% from assisted living facilities. A very small proportion were homeless or had come from prison.”
“The surveyed patients were over 51 years old and were either retired, unemployed or nonessential workers.”
“About 96% of them had co-morbidities. This means that nearly all of them were diagnosed with another ailment prior to becoming infected with the coronavirus.”
“COVID-19 disproportionately affected Hispanics and African Americans living in the NYC.”
ABSURD RULES
California ordered the release of at least 8,000 non-violent offenders by the end of August 2020. By October 2020, New Jersey freed almost 3,000 inmates who were within a year of their release to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 among prisoners and guards. Some twenty-four states released 37,700 prisoners.
Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the release of at least 8,000 prisoners by the end of August 2020 to stop the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.
Executive Order 124 allowed New Jersey to grant early release to nearly 3,000 at-risk prisoners. Governor Murphy said,
“Since March, the population in State correctional facilities has decreased by nearly 3,000 people (16%), including more than 1,200 people who were released under Executive Order 124. This dramatic reduction has allowed for critical social distancing as part of the fight against COVID-19.”
The Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed in August 2022 that “Twenty-four states released a total of 37,700 persons from prison on an expedited basis (earlier than scheduled) during the COVID-19 study period.”
Officials in California, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh dumped tons of sand in skateparks to stop skateboarders from visiting. But skateboarders in Venice Beach brought shovels to clear the sand, an affected skate park in San Clemente soon attracted dirt bikers, and revolving doors at Pittsburgh City Hall were dumped with sand in retaliation.
Officials dumped sand into public skate parks in Venice Beach, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh, including thirty-seven tons of sand at a skate park in San Clemente, CA.
However, an affected skate park in San Clemente soon attracted dirt bikers, while the skate park in Venice Beach made more headlines after skaters turned up with shovels to clear the sand.
WFTV 9 reported that “Sand was dumped in a revolving door at Pittsburgh City Hall on Thursday night, hours after a local skate park was filled in to keep people away.”
New York City health officials encouraged the use of glory holes and for people to “make it kinky” while getting “creative” with physical barriers. Towns and villages in New York and New Jersey also banned leafblowers because they may spread COVID-19 even though “there is no scientific proof of this.” The New York Times even wrote an article about the issue.
In updated advice issued in June 2020, New York City health officials encouraged people to use glory holes to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Make it kinky…Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face-to-face contact.”
The village of Croton-on-Hudson banned leafblowers because there was “concern that the use of leaf blowers may be contributing to the spread of the virus, although there is no scientific proof of this.”
The village of Sleepy Hollow also banned leafblowers, and the New York Times wrote a piece about the issue.
Gretchen Whitmer said her COVID rules “don’t make a lot of sense in hindsight.” Whitmer faced free speech criticisms by banning nonessential advertising; she allowed hardware stores to stay open but banned them from selling carpet, and she allowed the use of kayaks and sailboats but not jet skis or motorboats.
Whitmer told CNN in 2023 that “We had to make some decisions, that in retrospect, don’t make a lot of sense.”
Critics accused Whitmer of infringing on free speech rights by banning non-essential advertising and promoting goods other than “groceries, medical supplies, or items that are necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and basic operation of residences.”
Whitmer’s administration announced in the FAQ section of Executive Order 2020-42 that “Physical outdoor activity like kayaking, canoeing, and sailing is permitted under the order, but using a motorboat, a jet ski, or other similar watercraft is not. Any outdoor activity permitted under the order, including boating, must be done in a manner consistent with social distancing.”
Whitmer allowed hardware stores to stay open, but they were forced to shut sections of their stores that sold prohibited items. This included paint, carpet, furniture, garden supplies, and flooring.
The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, banned all drive-in church services ahead of Easter Sunday until a judge overruled and compared the decision to “the pages of The Onion.” Also in April 2020, two state police cars in Pennsylvania pulled over a 19-year-old woman and fined her for driving alone.
Greg Fischer, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, banned drive-in church services ahead of Easter Sunday 2020. But US District Judge Justin Walker ruled in favor of On Fire Christian Church in their suit against the mayor, and the ban was lifted.
The judge rejected the mayor’s claim that he only suggested the services not be held and said, “This court never expected to see outside the pages of a dystopian novel, or perhaps the pages of The Onion.”
Two state police cars in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, pulled over Anita Shaffer of York County because her taillight was out and her window tinting was too dark.
The state troopers didn’t fine her for those infractions, but they did fine her for violating the stay-at-home act.
Authorities issued Shaffer a ticket of at least $202.25 for violating Pennsylvania’s Disease Control and Prevention Act of 1955, as well as an additional $25.
A Florida woman had been banned from seeing her husband with Alzheimer’s for 114 days, so she underwent 20 hours of training to work at the care center.
Steve Daniel, 66, had early-onset Alzheimer’s and had been living in a memory care center in Florida. Governor DeSantis banned visits to care homes in March 2022, and so Danie’s wife, Mary, went 114 days without visiting her husband.
So Mary Daniel underwent twenty hours of training on protocol and infectious disease so that she could work as a dish-washer in the care home where her husband is staying.
Police deputies in Encinitas, California, issued citations to twenty-two people “watching the sunset (and) having picnics near the beach,” and that the violations could include six months' jail time and a $1,000 fine. California police also arrested paddleboarders and surfers who went into the ocean.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced in April 2020 that deputies in Encinitas issued citations to twenty-two people “watching the sunset (and) having picnics near the beach.” The violations could include fines of up to $1,000 and/or six months in jail.
The LA Times reported in April 2020 that county lifeguards in Malibu flagged down LA County sheriff’s deputies after a paddleboarder ignored their requests to get out of the ocean.
The paddleboarder eventually made his way to the beach, where the deputies arrested him for violating the state’s stay-at-home order and for disobeying a lifeguard.
Police in Manhattan Beach fined a surfer $1,000 after he ignored warnings by police and lifeguards not to go into the water.
Police in Brighton, Colorado, arrested a man in front of his wife and daughter for playing catch in an almost empty park. Mayor Eric Garcetti of LA shut off water and electricity to houses hosting parties, and Massachusetts did the same to a gym that violated lockdown orders, as well as changing the locks.
Matt Mooney is a former Colorado State Patrol trooper and said he was maintaining social distancing rules, but police arrived to clear out visitors because the park was closed.
Mooney refused to show ID to the officers because he hadn’t broken the law. The officers threatened to arrest him in front of his daughter, but Mooney maintained his innocence, so the officers arrested him.
The police department later apologized for its overreach.
Eric Garcetti shut off water and electricity at an influencer's house after the tenants hosted a party. Researchers even claimed that “utility shutoff moratoria (both water and electricity) reduced COVID-19 infections by 14% and deaths by 40% from March 2020 to November 2020.”
Authorities shut off water and electricity at Prime Fitness Gym in Oxford, Massachusetts, for violating state shutdown rules, and eventually changed the locks.
The FDA warned sick Americans to maintain social distancing with their pets to avoid infecting animals. KFC dropped its “Finger Lickin’ Good” slogan because of hygiene advice during the pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration advised Americans in June 2020 to observe the six-foot social distancing rule with their pets, as humans can infect animals with coronavirus.
KFC stopped using its “Finger Lickin’ Good” slogan during the pandemic because of hygiene advice.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz set up a COVID hotline so people could snitch on those who weren’t following social distancing rules.
Walz set up the hotline in March 2020 that allowed people to tell authorities if they suspected someone of disobeying lockdown rules. Republicans criticized the hotline, but Walz replied,
“We're not going to take down a phone number that people can call to keep their families safe.”
DEMONIZATION OF THE UNVACCINATED
Illinois state representative Jonathan Carroll put forward a bill to make unvaccinated COVID-19 patients pay for their treatment even if they were insured. David Frum of the Atlantic called for hospitals to “quietly triage emergency care to serve the unvaccinated last.” The supermarket chain Krogen announced that unvaccinated employees would not get paid leave if they contracted COVID-19.
On December 6, 2021, Illinois state representative Jonathan Carroll put forward legislation that would’ve forced unvaccinated COVID-19 patients to pay for their medical treatment regardless of whether they were insured.
Carroll withdrew the bill within a few days following death threats, but the progressive Occupy Democrats groups tweeted their support of the bill.
Also in December 2021, David Frum of the Atlantic tweeted that we should “let hospitals quietly triage emergency care to serve the unvaccinated last.”
And again in December 2021, Kroger revealed that it had removed paid emergency leave for employees who contracted Covid-19. The Wall Street Journal reported that the supermarket chain also added,
“A $50 monthly surcharge to company health plans for unvaccinated managers and other nonunion employees
Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik wrote an infamous article for the LA Times entitled “Mocking anti-vaxxers’ COVID deaths is ghoulish, yes — but may be necessary.” Hiltzik’s argument is that mocking those who died of a virus they themselves mocked can serve as a teachable moment.
The crux of Hiltzik’s argument is as follows:
“Mockery is not necessarily the wrong reaction to those who publicly mocked anti-COVID measures and encouraged others to follow suit, before they perished of the disease, the dangers of which they belittled.”
Hiltzik wrote the article in January 2022 following the death of Kelly Enrby, a Republican from Orange County.
Ernby campaigned against vaccine mandates (even before the pandemic) and was herself unvaccinated against Covid-19, but later died of the virus around New Year’s Day 2022.
Hiltzik acknowledged that society should value every life, but added,
“Those who have deliberately flouted sober medical advice by refusing a vaccine known to reduce the risk of serious disease from the virus, including the risk to others, and end up in the hospital or the grave can be viewed as receiving their just deserts.”
“That’s even more true of those who not only refused the vaccine for themselves, but publicly advocated that others do so.”
In response to calls for civility, Hiltzik added,
“Pleas for “civility” are a fraud. Their goal is to blunt and enfeeble criticism and distract from its truthfulness. Typically, they’re the work of hypocrites.”
“We must view every one of these deaths as a teachable moment. They demonstrate in the most vivid way imaginable the folly of vaccine refusal and of flouting responsible public health measures. They underscore the dire consequences of turning public health into a partisan football.”
A July 2023 study from Ohio State University found that 4.6% of people believed that the unvaccinated deserved to die. Some 63% of Democrats believed anti-vaxxers deserved a full recovery from Covid-19 compared to 80% of Republicans.
Commentators believed that the study showed mockery of anti-vaxxers was nuanced, but the results still show that about one in twenty-one or twenty-two people believed an anti-vaxxer deserved to die of Covid-19.
The study also found that 63% of Democrats believed anti-vaxxers deserved a full recovery from Covid-19 compared to 80% of Republicans.
Kat Rosenfield, a columnist for UnHerd, noted in a December 2021 article that the left had previously railed against the idea of withholding healthcare based on lifestyle choices. But during the pandemic, progressives often mocked unvaccinated conservatives who died from the virus (and I would note, almost always neglecting to mention often lower rates of vaccination among minority communities).
Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona proposed a $50 levy on obese Medicaid recipients who don’t follow a doctor’s slimming regimen advice, as well as smokers.
The Week responded with an article entitled “Arizona's 'cruel and regressive' fat tax.”
NBC News wrote “Picking on the poor, obese no way to balance Arizona's budget”
Rosenfield notes that,
“When Sarah Palin claimed that Obama’s healthcare bill would ration care only to those deemed “worthy” by government bureaucrats, the fact-checking site Politifact declared it the Lie of the Year, writing, “Palin’s statement sounds more like a science fiction movie (Soylent Green, anyone?) than part of an actual bill before Congress.””
The phrase “compassion fatigue” took off, and many outlets reported on the phenomenon. A Boston doctor noted that colleagues were referring to patients by their vaccination status despite its irrelevance to treatment. Another doctor wrote of his anger towards conservative news pundits, while another recounted an incident where she practically scolded a dying man for being unvaccinated.
Dr. Daniela J. Lamas, a doctor in Boston and contributing writer for the New York Times, wrote in a December 2021 op-ed that she felt temporarily reassured after learning that the six patients intubated in the ICU that afternoon were all unvaccinated. But this realisation prompted the following realisation,
“I wondered whether perhaps one of the greatest risks of whatever surge comes next will be compassion fatigue, the dwindling ability to feel empathy for the unvaccinated.”
Lamas noted in her article that ICU colleagues were by that point often including a patient’s vaccination status as part of their details, despite its irrelevance to treatment. Lamas wrote,
“I worry about the insidious effect of the frustration that we feel and how we balance that real and understandable anger with empathy. And if our units fill with coronavirus patients once again, further stretching a health care system that is on the edge with severe staffing shortages, it will become even harder to navigate that tension.”
Dr. Davidson is a doctor in West Michigan. He wrote in December 2021 that while he treats patients without holding a grudge,
“I’m mad at the Fox News personalities and the Republican politicians who downplay vaccination. I’m frustrated with people who aren’t doing more to protect themselves and their loved ones. Sometimes, I’m just mad with a kind of seething aimless anger.”
Dr. Anita Sircar is “an infectious-disease physician and clinical instructor of health sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine.” She wrote an August 2021 article for the LA Times entitled “As a doctor in a COVID unit, I’m running out of compassion for the unvaccinated. Get the shot.”
Sircar practically scolded the dying patient for not getting vaccinated, summing up her feelings as follows,
“Last year, a case like this would have flattened me. I would have wrestled with the sadness and how unfair life was. Battled with the angst of how unlucky he was. This year, I struggled to find sympathy. It was August 2021, not 2020. The vaccine had been widely available for months in the U.S., free to anyone who wanted it, even offered in drugstores and supermarkets.”
The National Institute of Health published a February 2022 article entitled “The 3-Fold Harms of Compassion Fatigue During COVID-19 Surges.” Jacob Fox of the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Barry Meisenberg of the Department of Medicine at Luminis Health in Annapolis wrote,
“Among the sad pandemic lessons learned is that empathy—like ventilators and personal protective equipment—is a finite resource.”
The Daily Show twice hosted a mock segment called the “Pandemmy Awards,” which featured numerous awards mocking people for their pandemic-related views. One 2021 segment was called “In ironic memoriam” and featured vaccine-skeptical conservative pundits who died with COVID-19.
Trevor Noah first revealed the awards segment in September 2020.
The 2021 edition featured an “In Ironic Memoriam” and mocked a series of vaccine-skeptical conservative pundits who died with Covid-19.
Some famous examples of this mockery include the subreddit “HermanCainAward,” named for a Republican candidate and skeptic of Covid rules who died with Covid-19 after attending a Trump rally in Oklahoma. There’s also the Twitter account Covidiot Deaths and the website sorryantivaxxer.com.
The “HermanCainAward” subreddit is a place for users to revel in the deaths of anti-vaccine advocates, often posting photos of victims on their deathbeds. The subreddit typically tracks a victim’s journey from Covid-19 skepticism to their death from the virus.
The site sorryantivaxxer.com attracts tens of thousands of views per post, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of views. Like the subreddit, it documents a victim’s journey from their online skepticism to their death from the virus.
Homepage
The founder and two moderators of the HermanCainAward subreddit spoke to the Washington Post under the condition that their surnames not be used. The subreddit was founded by a fifty-three-year-old academic researcher from near Los Angeles. One of the moderators is a forty-three-year-old healthcare worker who said they do it because “we really care.”
The Washington Post interviewed three people involved with the subreddit, which was founded by Bob, a fifty-three-year-old academic researcher who lives near Los Angeles.
Bob said the subreddit was initially about schadenfreude towards public figures but that its taunts soon turned towards the deaths of regular people.
“I feel like we’re punching down. I found it distasteful. But I also, at the same time, thought, ‘Who am I to say what should or shouldn’t be posted on this subreddit?’”
One of the moderators on the subreddit is Michelle, a forty-three-year-old healthcare worker from Philadelphia. She said she was involved with the subreddit because,
“We really care. We’re not just dancing on graves.”
Ron Munoz, a 51-year-old father, was featured on the website Sorry Antivaxxer after he died with COVID-19. Commenters said he deserved his death, and one individual replied to his daughter’s post asking for compassion by saying, “I can’t wait to read about you on here.”
Munoz’s daughters discovered that he was featured on the Sorry Antivaxxer website. Posts included,
“Anti-vax — STUPID hill to die on. He died for nothing.”
“They get what they deserve.”
One of his daughters wrote, “This is my dad. He was a very intelligent individual and very well loved. We as a family should be able to grieve without adults harassing/bullying us during this time.” But a commenter replied
“I can’t wait to read about you on here.”
This is his profile on the SorryAntivaxxer page
You can see the classic template of these sites, which typically charts a victim’s social media journey from vaccine skepticism to their death from Covid-19
Nick Bledsoe (41) was a father of four who regularly posted his anti-mask and vaccine views on his Facebook page, only to die of Covid-19 in September 2021. Screenshots of Bledsoe’s posts were shared on a website, and strangers soon barraged the dead man’s page with insults and mockery.
Nick Bledsoe was an auto mechanic from Opelika, Alabama, and regularly posted skeptical views about masks, vaccines, and other Covid-related rules to his Facebook page.
The father-of-four contracted Covid-19 and, according to the New York Times, used his last words to promise his father that he would get vaccinated once he recovered.
Bledsoe died in September 2021, leaving behind his four kids and wife.
Screenshots of Bledsoe’s posts appeared on a website about the deaths of vaccine opponents, and soon his Facebook page was flooded with messages mocking his death. Many stated that Bledsoe deserved to die.
A Facebook user asked one commenter to remove their post mocking Bledsoe out of respect for his family. She refused and said, “I am not the problem, he WAS.”
Even when the New York Times contacted the commenter, she replied, “I do believe in everything I say. I can be very passionate, sometimes a little too passionate.” But her posts disappeared soon after the call with the New York Times.
Drew Scott (45) was a father of three and grandfather with a second grandchild on the way. Scott questioned the vaccines on Facebook, and his comments were posted to a site mocking anti-vaxxers following his death from Covid-19 on September 10, 2021.
Drew Scott was a machine operator from Whitesburg, Georgia. He questioned vaccines on Facebook, comparing them to Russian roulette, as well as the 2020 US presidential election results.
Scott was hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia, and his wife posted updates about his ordeal, such as being given an oxygen mask, being sent to the ICU, and being ultimately placed on a ventilator. But Scott died on September 10, 2021.
His 19-year-old daughter got vaccinated soon after his death, although his wife and other daughters did not. One daughter refused because she was pregnant and worried about the effects on her unborn baby.
Scott’s vaccine-skeptical posts, along with responses from a friend challenging his views, were posted to a site that mocks the deaths of anti-vaxxers.
