This series documents stories from the Herman Cain Awards subreddit, tracking the COVID mis- and disinformation on Facebook that is leading to so many deaths. Today’s cautionary tale was a walking co-moribidity, but eh, why would she ever protect herself against a deadly global pandemic? 

I know many of you haven’t read every single one of the 150+ stories in this series, so maybe you haven’t seen all the usual tired anti-vaxx memes. Just know that they do get tiresome and tedious, and I’d rather focus on more novel material. So today, we’ll just stipulate that she had all the usual anti-vaxx, let’s go Brandon, Q child tracking, and other assorted right-wing material in her feed and carry on from there.

When you buy a house, do you handle the real estate transaction itself? Or do you hand off all the complicated paperwork to a real estate professional and title company, and use a professional for your home inspection? 

When you purchase a car, do you pop open the hood while loudly declaring I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S IN IT, and verify everything is where it should be, or do you trust the automaker to get it right, and the government to have mandated (via regulatory oversight) all the necessary safety issues? Heck, my auto-buying research includes reading other experts conducting unbiased testing to ensure I’m getting the best vehicle for my budget! 

You know the vaccine research I did? Vaxxed: you don’t die, unvaxxed: you could die. Then I took a look at the efficacy rates between the various vaccines, looked to see which ones were available in my area, and proceeded accordingly. 

Oh good. Then they don’t need guns. Right? 

That’s our protagonist on the right, with the magenta circle on her face. She has two serious comorbidities—obesity and age. A smart woman would vaccinate, and especially so in this shape. She should’ve elbowed her way to the front of the line. 

Congress didn’t exempt itself from any mandate. The Biden administration has implemented a mandate for employees and agencies under the executive branch, and attempted to extend it to large employers until the Supreme Court squashed that. The executive branch has no power to implement such mandates on the legislative branch. 

Lysine is just an amino acid. It’s a component of protein and is plentiful in any diet. You get it in meat, dairy, peas, leafy greens, nuts, legumes, soy, and pretty much anything else that has protein.

In case you’re wondering why someone might think it has COVID-fighting properties, turns out “It might also prevent the herpes virus from growing.” Googling around, HSV+ people swear by it during outbreaks, and vets prescribe it for feline herpes. It might also work on canker and cold sores. Of course, all viruses are the same, which is why the COVID vaccine also cures AIDS. #WingnutLogic

Meanwhile, you know what is cheaper than lysine? The free jab. 

No one wants to be sick! That’s why there’s a vaccine. 

As I keep saying, if there was a vaccine for the common cold, I’d take that it. If there was a vaccine for paper cuts, I’d take that.

The one friend had COVID. She took over-the-counter meds for one week. Then ivermectin for another week. Then she got over COVID. 

Two weeks.

She thinks it was ivermectin that cured her, and not the normal run-time of the average COVID illness. But of course, the legend of ivermectin only grows as she evangelizes it to her friends. 

Meanwhile, our protagonist is taking her India-sourced who-knows-what, but maybe it’s ivermectin. And her and her husband had been taking it before they even got sick. 

They didn’t get vaccinated because they “didn’t feel led to get them.” 

Okay then. 

Monoclonal antibodies no longer work. They were great for the delta variant, but have proven useless against omicron. 

And please, for the love of god, don’t be swabbing hydrogen peroxide. 

“If you use a full concentration (of hydrogen peroxide), or even inadequate dilution, it can be toxic to membranes and skin,” he said.

That background!

YAY, IT’S A WINTER WONDERLAND LET’S BUILD A SNOWMAN AND I HAVE COVID PNEUMONIA SUCH JOY!

YAY I’M IN THE HOSPITAL AND SCARED I’LL DIE, SMILES AND HAPPINESS WINTER JOY!

So bizarrely dissonant. 

Lovely. She’s afraid but not afraid of death, but really, it’s about all those other heathens. 

Even as she faces a preventable death, she can’t stop judging others.

The COVID dead-cat bounce is so, so cruel. 

I can’t get over that background. We know that she knows how to change them. She’s changed them in other posts. She just keeps coming back to this one for the bad news.

You know what would open up hospital beds? People vaccinating. This is the hospital, not a resort hotel while on vacation.

The lack of beds is a menace not just to COVID patients, but also anyone else who might have a medical emergency. Yet instead of being grateful for having somewhere to receive care, she’s complaining about the size of her room. 

I truly wish conservatives were able to understand how their selfish decisions affect their family. If they want to be stupid and die, that’s one thing. But if they knew the devastation they would leave in their wake, would they still make the same decision? 

We know a critical difference between us and them is empathy. If you care about other people, you are more likely to be a liberal.

No empathy and cognitive rigidity … yeah, that’s a recipe for disaster in a pandemic. You have to care for other people, and you have to be willing to adjust your behavior as we learn more about how the virus behaves.

Her husband survived, but with some kind of heart damage. She did not. Turns out, relying on sketchy foreign-sourced unregulated ivermectin and prayers wasn’t the solution to a global pandemic. 

Update: I forgot to add this bonus meme she posted just days before getting sick: