Vaccine conspiracies are beyond harmful.

He and my aunt have been posting vaccine conspiracy theories on Facebook since covid started. I didn't want to start shit with them so I didn't say anything.

As a shock to nobody, they both ended up catching the delta variant, and we were pretty convinced my uncle wasn't going to make it. He managed to pull through thanks to science, medical technology, and the tireless work of doctors and nurses. I was hoping the experience would change him and that he would say something like "I've learned my lesson, go out and get your vaccines people, and wear masks in public."

Instead, he attributed his recovery to the thoughts and prayers of his friends and family, and went right back to posting conspiracy theories.

This is one example. There are of course no sources, no news articles, just a picture of a rando in a hospital bed with a bullshit description. Notice how they use "d0se" instead of "dose", "Pf" instead of "Pfizer", and "v—ine" instead of "vaccine" in order to evade the algorithm that would otherwise flag it as a vaccine-related post and potentially get it removed.

I don't know how we got to this point, but covid conspiracy theories are actively harmful to all of us. I don't want to think about all the other people my aunt and uncle have infected with all their parties and traveling. I don't want to think about all the other people who've been convinced not to get the vaccine by posts like these only to get really sick. But this is our reality, so we need to do everything we can to make this shit stop.