One year later: Did Scooter's death influence his friends and family to get vaccinated?
According to social media posts (below), George "Scooter" Ward died of COVID on September 25, 2021. Scooter was well liked, but known as a political extremist by people who knew him. He posted a LOT of anti-vaxx rhetoric, far too much to post here, but we'll get an understanding of his mindset.
Starting in August, we can tell it's going to be tough to get Scooter on board with vaccines.
Oh man, he went straight to the "Mark of the Beast":
Anti-vaxxers can't fathom that someone cares about them, too...
Some math...
Government shouldn't save lives?
Icarus?
Don't get vaccinated and don't eat bull crap. I'll agree with one of those two, for sure.
Really, you're comparing vaccines to chemottherapy? That makes sense?
Segregated stores?
Seems like you enjoyed about 14 more days, until...
And there it is. The announcement.
And it's over.
RIP Scooter.
September 26, 2022 - One year later
Scooter is still gone, but it's been one year since his story was profiled on SAV. I wanted to go back to his Facebook page and see if his death had influenced any of his 2,406 friends to protect themselves by getting the Covid-19 vaccine. Unsurprisingly, I got a little distracted, but I'll get there, I promise.
I have never really gotten the selfie thing. Maybe it's an age thing. Maybe it's a lack of vanity. It's just not my jam, and generally I find selfies pretty ridiculous. There's a big difference between taking a selfie in your car or bathroom and taking a selfie in a beautiful place, doing something awesome and documenting your experience.
Chinese eyes? Nah, bro...
Moving along!
Before he died, there were many prayers being said for Scooter. Obviously prayers weren't strong enough to fight the "Awful Satan Pneumonia."
Apparently, there was no funeral. I wonder if they were trying to be cautious because of Covid.
There were some nice tributes left on his Facebook wall. That's almost as good as a funeral, right?
Yes Lisa, people go to the hospital when they're still alive. Otherwise, they go to the morgue.
I also found some more posts that didn't make the original story. They're worth sharing. It's amazing to me that they are still up and Facebook hasn't removed them. Okay, I'm not actually surprised, but it IS frustrating.
I didn't get in a boxcar to a virus protection camp. I got my Covid-19 vaccine and booster and guess where I am...NOT DEAD.
Ah yes, the ever reliable Fox News.
He was also anti-mask:
He called this child abuse. Look at his last comment..."And no one is dying then it's not airborne. The virus is still fake. It's nothing more than the flu."
He was a real charmer.
Did Scooter's death influence any of his friends to get vaccinated? Surprisingly, yes! Out of his 2,406 Facebook friends, I found these two people who changed their tune! Congratulations Joe and Shane! I hope you followed through.
The rest of his friends don't seem convinced.
We're the super spreaders?
I should note, Kathy did say in another comment that she IS vaccinated. This comment still doesn't sit well.
In conclusion, I'm glad to see that Scooter's death helped influence at least two of his friends to get vaccinated against Covid-19. I hope there were more who changed their minds but maybe didn't feel comfortable expressing that on Facebook. Who knows?
Scooter, like many others on SAV, was a victim of misinformation. We have a weapon to fight Covid: the vaccine. However there are many people still sharing misinformation about Covid-19/vaccines and THAT KILLS. It's time for us to start attacking misinformation at the source. It's time to go after the politicians who tell us the vaccine is deadly, while they're all vaccinated. It's time for us to go after the preachers who pray for their congregation members when they get Covid and say it's God's will, but still preach that the vaccine is the mark of the beast. It's time to go after the social media accounts of those who push the anti-vaccine agenda. How to do that, I can't say, but I think it's time we try to cut the stream of misinformation that's killing people. If we can't use these stories on SAV to demonstrate that Covid IS deadly then we need to find another way to help end this pandemic. Stop the misinformation!