Man Dies From Covid-19 After Mocking Vaccines

An anti-vaxxer who mocked the Covid-19 vaccines on social media has passed away following a month-long battle with the virus.

Stephen Harmon had been vocal on his feelings about the vaccine - back in June, he tweeted: "Got 99 problems but a vax ain't one."

CBS

Despite suffering with the virus, Mr Harmon said he would still turn down the vaccine, explaining that his religious beliefs would protect him.

He was treated for pneumonia and Covid-19 in a hospital outside Los Angeles and asked people to pray for him shortly before he died on Wednesday (21 July).

The 34-year-old documented his fight and tweeted to tell people: "Please pray y'all, they really want to intubate me and put me on a ventilator."

According to the BBC, in his final tweet on Wednesday, Mr Harmon said he had opted for intubation, adding: "Don't know when I'll wake up, please pray."

Twitter

Mr Harmon, who was a member of the Hillsong megachurch, had joked about the pandemic as well as the vaccine, and had been sharing memes about trusting the virus over disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci.

In another tweet, Mr Harmon wrote: "If you don't have faith that God can heal me over your stupid ventilator then keep the Hell out of my ICU room, there's no room in here for fear or lack of faith."

The news of his death was confirmed by Hillsong founder Brian Houston who wrote: "Ben has just passed on to us the devastating news that our beloved friend, Stephen Harmon has passed away from Covid. Heartbreaking."

He captioned his Instagram post: "Stephen was just a young man in his early 30s. He was a graduate from Hillsong College and a vital part of our church in California.

"He was one of the most generous people I know and he had so much in front of him. He would always turn up to our grandkids soccer games and he will be missed by so many. RIP."

Mr Houston went on to add: "NOTE: Stephen's thoughts on vaccines were his own. They do not represent the views and thoughts of Hillsong Church. Many of our pastors, staff, and congregation are fully vaccinated and more will be when vaccines become available to them in their countries."

Topics: News, Coronavirus, US News, Covid-19

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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