Mother Jones recently detailed how healthcare workers are not immune to falling prey to online misinformation, and now a young nurse who openly declared her skepticism to getting vaccinated has reportedly died after contracting Covid-19.
Olivia Guidry was a registered nurse at Ochsner Lafayette General. She worked in the hospital’s emergency department and was diagnosed with COVID in early July. Despite her medical background, Guidry had expressed skepticism concerning the Covid-19 vaccine on social media. In posts she made on Twitter (her account appears to have been deactivated, but not before some users screengrabbed some of her tweets), the young nurse questioned whether the government was using the vaccine as some sort of “social experiment” and made false claims that mRNA technology — the kind employed in both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines — “manipulates your DNA” at the “molecular level.” In the same tweet, Guidry implored people: “Do. Not. Get. It. It’s not safe.”
https://twitter.com/wutangkids/status/1414389274527637504?s=21
Neither claim is true, but Guidry’s posts represent a wide-held belief by anti-vaxxers who have been spreading this type of misinformation leading to lower vaccination rates and rising cases of virus variants.
It’s not clear which variant Guidry contracted in early July, but according to social media posts from her sister, Guidry spiked a fever and suffered seizures before being placed in a medically-induced coma on Thursday. By Saturday, she had died. Guidry’s friends, family, and co-workers took to social media to express their shock and sadness at the news with many praising her abilities as a nurse and describing her as a “sweet soul.”
Guidry leaves behind her sister and her two parents, both of whom may have also contracted COVID. The family is asking for donations to help with the unexpected funeral costs while a vigil is being planned for her friends and coworkers.
(Via The Advocate)