Coronavirus: Anti-vaxxers that have paid the ultimate price

Vocal opponents of the Covid vaccine — one who proudly called himself Mr Anti-Vax — have tragically paid the ultimate price.

A radio host who called himself “Mr Anti-Vax” has become the latest in a growing list of anti-vaxxers who have lost their lives to Covid.

Marc Bernier, a star on radio station WNDB Daytona, Florida was admitted to hospital three weeks ago with Covid. On Saturday, the station confirmed his death at the age of 65.

Mr Bernier had been a vocal opponent of the Covid vaccine, in December telling a guest “I’m not taking it … Are you kidding me? Mr Anti-Vax? Jeepers”.

His death is the third among anti-vaxxer radio hosts in the US.

Marc Bernier called himself, ‘Mr Anti-Vax’. He was hospitalized three weeks ago. He just died of COVID. #BeSmartBeVaccinatedpic.twitter.com/bgOLguVbqj

— ken olin (@kenolin1) August 29, 2021

DICK FARREL, 65

Dick Farrel, a Florida radio host considered a pioneer of the shock jock genre, died of Covid complications on August 4.

He was a staunch critic of Dr Anthony Fauci calling him a “power-tripping lying freak” and as recently as June was urging people not to get vaccinated.

He reportedly changed his position on vaccines after falling ill.

“He texted me and told me to ‘get it!’ He told me this virus is no joke and he said, ‘I wish I had gotten’ the vaccine,” his friend Amy Leigh Hair wrote on Facebook.

Dick Farrel died of Covid-19 and was a well-known anti-vaxxer.

PHIL VALENTINE, 61

Nashville radio host Phil Valentine downplayed the efficacy of vaccines and even recorded a parody song making fun of the jab.

He said: “I have a very low risk of a) getting Covid and b) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?”

Valentine died on August 21 after being hospitalised.

Phil Valentine was a prominent conservative radio host.

STEPHEN HARMON, 35

Stephen Harmon, a member of Hillsong megachurch from California, was vocal about his opposition to vaccines

“Got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one,” he tweeted to his thousands of followers in June.

He was treated for pneumonia and Covid-19 in an LA hospital but died on July 21.

In the days leading up to his death he documented his time in hospital.

Despite his life-threatening situation, Mr Harmon said he would reject being vaccinated, saying his religion would protect him.

“Don’t know when I’ll wake up, please pray,” he wrote before going under intubation.

Stephen Harmon was a member of the Hillsong Church.

LESLIE LAWRENSON, 58

Leslie Lawrenson, a solicitor and Cambridge University graduate, posted a video on Facebook of himself downplaying the virus.

He died at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset, nine days after publishing the video on why Covid was “nothing to be afraid of”.

Leslie Lawrenson had refused a vaccine and become obsessed with conspiracy theories.

SCOTT APLEY, 45

Scott Apley, a city council member in Dickinson Texas, in May posted about a “mask burning” party in Cincinnati. “I wished I lived in the area!,” he wrote.

He also downplayed a tweet from a former health commissioner praising positive Pfizer clinical trials by replying “You are an absolute enemy of a free people”.

Apley was admitted to hospital with “pneumonia-like symptoms” but died on August 4.

Texas GOP Official Mocked COVID Five Days Before He Died of Virus.

H. Scott Apley, 45, regularly espoused anti-vaccine and anti-mask views online.https://t.co/Z6A6tQ5hDQ

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) August 7, 2021

CALEB WALLACE, 30

Texas anti-masker Caleb Wallace led a group called “Freedom Defenders” against mask restrictions during the summer of 2020.

He died on August 28 leaving behind three children and a pregnant wife.

Staunch anti-mask “freedom fighter” Caleb Wallace, who demanded “end of Covid tyranny” has died at age 30. He self treated himself with ivermectin. He had proclaimed #COVID19 is “perfectly fine to live with.” He leaves behind 3 kids & a pregnant wife.https://t.co/czsGnElbCs

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) August 29, 2021

DAVID PARKER, 56

David Parker, a nightclub manager from County Durham in Northern England, dismissed Covid-19 vaccines as “experimental” and warned of the reach of “big pharma” in posts on Facebook.

Despite not having any other underlying conditions, he died of Covid-19 on August 2.

David Parker, 56, passed away at Darlington Memorial Hospital County Durham on Monday despite having no underlying health conditions. He had contracted the virus just weeks after condemning the vaccine and pharmaceutical companies in social media posts.https://t.co/5h40zzWDI7

— David Richardson (@Davidmetroland) August 6, 2021

THE GONCALVES FAMILY

A mum, dad and brother who refused to get the Covid vaccine died of the infection within a week of each other in July.

Francis Goncalves’s brother Shaul, 40, dad Basil, 73, and mum Charmagne, 65, fell ill on the weekend of July 10, after meeting for dinner.

Francis, from Cardiff, said his family, who had moved to Portugal, hadn’t been vaccinated as they had been scared by anti-vaxxer misinformation.

"I can't even explain the feeling".

Francis Goncalves says he thinks at least one of his family members may have survived #COVID19 had they taken the jab.

Read more here: https://t.co/oh3OstFtc4pic.twitter.com/Kt09K7PUiG

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 11, 2021

Originally published as Coronavirus: Anti-vaxxers that have paid the ultimate price