California woman who said she was ‘unmasked, unmasked, unvaccinated, fearless’ died from Covid-19, aged 40

A woman vocally anti-mask and anti-vaccine in California died of Covid-19.

Kristen Lowery, 40, was a mother of four school-aged children in Escalon, California. In her Facebook messages, she proclaimed herself a “free thinker” who was “unmasked, unmasked, unvaccinated, fearless”. In one photo, she held up a protest sign saying “Give voice to injured vaccines.”

In September, her sister wrote that Ms Lowery had been hospitalized with the coronavirus.

“My sister, Kristen, is in the hospital fighting for her life with Covid and pneumonia,” she wrote. “My sister still has a long life. We need you here, sissy. Your children love you and miss you so much. Please don’t give up.

The sister also added a warning.

“I don’t care about your opinion on vaccinated or not [sic], “she wrote.” It’s not political “

On September 15, several family members announced Ms Lowery’s death and a GoFundMe was set up for her funeral expenses.

“My beautiful niece lost her battle with Covid,” wrote an aunt. “My heart is breaking for her 4 children … So many people need her here, but God must have special plans for her in Heaven.”

The tragedy is one of many such deaths, as Americans refusing Covid vaccines succumb to the virus. The final stage of the pandemic, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, is almost entirely limited to Americans who have not been vaccinated. According to a Times analysis, as little as 0.1% of Covid hospitalizations in some states are in people who are fully vaccinated.

And yet, enough Americans have turned down vaccines for some states to face their worst hospitalization and death rates from Covid since the start of the pandemic. At this point, as many Americans have died from Covid-19 as from 1918 Spanish flu. On one in 500 Americans have died from the virus.

All three Covid vaccines licensed in the United States – produced by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna – have been shown to be very safe and effective. Many refusals of deceased Covid vaccines have expressed regret not to have the shot.