A man in California who mocked Covid-19 vaccines on his social media accounts has died a month after being infected with the virus.
A member of the Hillsong megachurch, Stephen Harmon, had been openly opposing vaccines through a series of jokes about not getting one.
The 34-year-old tweeted to his 7,000 followers in June:
"Got 99 problems but a vax ain't one."
He was taken to a hospital outside LA to be treated for Covid-19 and pneumonia, where he passed away last Wednesday.
In the days prior to his death, Harmon was documenting his fight against the disease. In one of his posts, he said:
"Please pray y'all, they really want to intubate me and put me on a ventilator."
Right before he decided to go under intubation, Harmon shared his final tweet in which he wrote:
"Don't know when I'll wake up, please pray."
Despite being hit hard from the disease, Harmon said that he would still reject being vaccinated on the grounds that his religious faith would protect him.
Brian Houston, founder of Hillsong, confirmed the news of Harmon's death in a tweet saying:
"Ben has just passed on to us the devastating news that our beloved friend, Stephen Harmon has passed away from Covid. Heartbreaking."
He said of Harmon in an Instagram post:
"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."
He noted that the church encourages its members "to follow the guidance of their doctors".
In recent weeks, there has been a rise of Covid-19 cases in California, with the majority of patients taken to the hospital being unvaccinated.
[h/t: BBC]
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