SoCal man, 34, who mocked vaccines dies from COVID-19

LOS ANGELES – A Southern California man in his 30s who openly made fun of vaccines in social media posts has died after hospitalization with COVID-19.

Stephen Harmon had joked about the vaccine and said he would never get one, tweeting Jay-Z’s altered words “I have 99 problems but a vax isn’t.”

Even in his hospital bed, he remained defiant, stating on Instagram “… I won’t be vaccinated once I’m out and released.”

Harmon was an active member of Hillsong Church. Church founder Brian Houston tweeted that he had just heard “the devastating news that our beloved friend Stephen Harmon has passed away from Covid. Heartbreaking.”

Houston added on Instagram: “Stephen was just a young man in his early 30s. He was a graduate of Hillsong College and a staple of our church in California. He was one of the most generous people I have ever seen. know him and he had so much ahead of him. He always showed up at our grandchildren’s football games and so many people will miss him. RIP. “

Harmon, 34, recounted his hospital stay on social media, tweeting that he was resisting intubation even as his condition continued to decline. In his final tweet, he said he finally agreed to the intubation. He passed away later that day.

Harmon’s story is one that doctors say is becoming too prevalent in Southern California – and across the country.

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The number of cases is skyrocketing again, as the more contagious Delta variant takes hold – and after the state lifted restrictions on commercial capacity and distancing last month.

Los Angeles County reported more than 3,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday – about 15 times the number seen just a month ago. The county has reported more than 10,000 new cases in the past four days.

Hospitalizations and deaths are also increasing, but not as sharply as the number of infections.

As of Friday, there were 655 COVID-19 patients in Los Angeles County hospitals, an increase of 200 from the previous week. Seven more deaths were reported on Friday.

Health experts say most cases and almost all hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated.

They continue to plead with the public for him to be vaccinated to avoid a fate like Harmon’s.

“If we didn’t have 5.3 million fully vaccinated people in LA County, we would likely see almost double the number of cases today,” said Dr Barbara Ferrer, county public health director. of the.

“As cases continue to increase, many of us are trying to figure out what to do to minimize exposure to the virus. For those eligible and not yet vaccinated, now would be an important time to get vaccinated because our three vaccines all offer a lot of protection to the person vaccinated and also slow the spread. “

In Sacramento, a woman urges others to get vaccinated after losing her husband to COVID.

“There is a lot of misinformation and we just wanted to see how it affects people before we decide to get it,” said Mia Ponte Vinnard. “But we didn’t do it in time – we didn’t think about it until it was too late then.”

She and her husband Brad Vinnard were reluctant to get the vaccine because the issue was so politicized.

“One of his last Facebook posts was ‘please go get your shot, that’s nothing good’,” Vinnard said. “And then he asked me, ‘Honey, please go tell our friends to go get the shots. Show them the picture of me here and tell them that they don’t want to be where I am right now. “

Brad Vinnard, 68, died on Saturday. He was an avid salesperson and biker.