Anti-vaxxers, #diedsuddenly online posters, and now a film (linked here) with examples working overtime to destroy public trust in the COVID vaccine with their wild, crazy, insane, and total disinformation lies across social networking.
This timely story reported on here from the AP with this headline:
“Died suddenly posts twist
tragedies to push vaccine lies”
Results from 6-year-old
Anastasia Weaver’s autopsy may take weeks. But online anti-vaccine activists
needed only hours after her funeral this week to baselessly blame the COVID-19
vaccine.
A prolific Twitter account
posted Anastasia’s name and smiling dance portrait in a tweet with a syringe
emoji. A Facebook user messaged her mother, Jessica Day-Weaver, to call her a
“murderer” for having her child vaccinated.
In reality, the Ohio kindergartner had experienced lifelong health problems since her premature birth, including epilepsy, asthma, and frequent hospitalizations with respiratory viruses.
Day-Weaver said of her daughter's death: “The doctors haven’t given us any information other than it was due to all of her chronic conditions. There was never a thought that it could be from the vaccine.”
But the facts didn’t matter to online posters, where Anastasia was swiftly added to a growing list of hundreds of children, teens, athletes, and celebrities whose unexpected deaths and injuries have been incorrectly blamed on COVID-19 shots.
Using the hashtag #diedsuddenly, online conspiracy theorists
have flooded social media with news reports, obituaries and GoFundMe pages in
recent months, leaving grieving families to wrestle with the lies.
Other examples going
wild on social media:
1. A 37-year-old
Brazilian television host collapsed live on air because of a congenital heart
problem.
2. A 18-year-old
unvaccinated bull rider died from a rare disease.
3. A 32-year-old
actress died from bacterial infection.
Deaths caused by vaccination are extremely rare and the
risks associated with not getting vaccinated are far higher than the risks of
vaccination. But that hasn't stopped conspiracy theorists from lobbing a
variety of untrue accusations at the vaccines.
The “Died Suddenly”
film (linked above) features a montage of headlines found on Google to falsely suggest they
prove that sudden deaths have “never happened like this until now.”
The film has amassed more than 20 million views on an
alternative video sharing website, and its companion Twitter account posts
about more deaths and injuries daily.
An AP review of more than 100 tweets from the account in
December and January found that claims about the cases being vaccine related
were largely unsubstantiated and, in some cases, contradicted by public
information.
1. Some
of the people featured in the film had died of genetic disorders, drug
overdoses, flu complications, or even suicide.
2. One even died in a surfing accident.
California writer Dolores Cruz published an essay in 2022 about grieving for her son, who died in a car crash in 2017.
The “Died Suddenly” film used a screenshot of the headline in the film, portraying his death as vaccine related.
The filmmakers did
not respond to specific questions from the AP, but instead issued a
statement that referenced a “surge in sudden deaths and a PROVEN rate of excess
deaths,” (and all without any data).
The number of overall deaths in the U.S. has been higher than what would be expected since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in part because of the virus, overdoses, and other causes.
However, the COVID-19
vaccines prevented nearly 2 million U.S. deaths in just
their first year of use. Some claims about those who’ve suffered heart issues also
weaponize a kernel of truth like COVID-19 vaccines can cause rare heart inflammation issues,
myocarditis, or pericarditis especially in young men.
Medical experts say those cases are typically mild and that with immunizations far outweighing
risks.
The narrative also
has leveraged high-profile moments like the collapse
of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin as he suffered cardiac arrest during a game last month after a fierce
blow to his chest.
But sudden cardiac arrest
has long been a prominent cause of death in the U.S. — and medical experts
agree the vaccine didn’t cause Hamlin’s injury.
For some families, the misinformation represents a sideshow to their real focus: To understanding why their loved ones died and preventing similar tragedies.
For example: Clint Erickson's son,
Tyler, died in September just before his 18th birthday while golfing near their
home in Florida. The family knows his heart stopped but still doesn't know
exactly why. Tyler had not even been vaccinated, however, but his story still appeared
in the “Died Suddenly” film.
My 2 Cents: Spreading misinformation is one thing and is usually by
error or mistake – disinformation as cited the cases above is designed to spread chaos
and harmful false information about somethings that did not even exist related
to COVID or the vaccine proven effective in stopping deaths in the U.S. despite
us having lost over a million lives.
Why those wild conspiracy lies? Money and profit most likely and utter ignorance after hearing so many lies over and over.
Reminds me of when Trump spoke in Reno after winning that 2016 NV primary election seen in this short YouTube video clip when he said: “I love the poorly educated.”
Case closed – conspiracy and
disinformation spreaders are more dangerous than any virus and they are a real
threat to our very national fiber – at least in my view, and I hope you agree.
Thanks for stopping by.
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