'This doesn’t mean what CNN thinks it means': Media picks up politicized obituary for vaccinated woman who died of COVID

Twitchy did a post earlier this week on a story from NPR about a man who died after being turned away from 43 ICUs at capacity due to COVID. NPR had picked up the claim about 43 ICUs from the obituary written by his family. NPR also noted that it had tried and failed to get in touch with the family. As far as fact-checking, they checked with one hospital, which said the man required a higher level of specialized care than it offered — not that it was full of unvaccinated COVID patients.

We bring it up because now another obituary is going viral, and this woman’s death has been written up by CNN, Yahoo News, The Independent, and Today. Why is her death receiving so much attention? Because her family used the obituary to blame the unvaccinated for killing her, even though she’d been vaccinated.

Wait, she’d been vaccinated by caught COVID anyway and died? Is there more to this story?

This doesn’t mean what @CNN thinks it means. pic.twitter.com/ttmnFDhk79

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) September 16, 2021

Again, the news media is sourcing stories to obituaries written by grieving families.

Serious question….how do they know it was an unvaccinated person that gave it to her? Seems like it could easily have been an asymptomatic vaccinated person.

— Karen Whitehead (@KarenWh8) September 16, 2021

They don’t. They said she did visit a friend who was unvaccinated, but there’s no proof that’s where she contracted COVID. So what is CNN saying?

One of the most mind numbingly stupid tweets by @cnn of all time…
The purpose of a vaccine is to prevent infection of a virus…it's efficacy has nothing to do with a non-vaccinated person…it means the vaccine doesn't work and CNN has become anti-vax… https://t.co/gcDZI99dhY

— Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) September 16, 2021

Let me fix @CNN's headline:

She was vaccinated, but being vaccinated doesn't mean shit. pic.twitter.com/SRw5CtsTDi

— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) September 16, 2021

It’s a startling beginning of an obituary announcing the passing of Candace Cay Ayers from complications of severe COVID-19.

“She was preceded in death by more than 4,531,799 others infected with covid-19. She was vaccinated but was infected by others who chose not to be. The cost was her life,” it reads.

So the story isn’t that the vaccine didn’t protect her; the story is that the family wrote an obituary telling people to get vaccinated. And by the way, the story eventually gets to the part where the woman “had a pre-existing condition, rheumatoid arthritis, and was already immunocompromised.”

It’s tragic, but we’re tired of seeing obituaries written up as news; here’s a good thread:

Normally, because of the circumstances, I would leave this alone, but since her family decided to make her obituary political I’m sure they don’t mind. 🧵https://t.co/4Nl0eMvRt5

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

This is a perfect example of why people need to educate themselves on what the vaccines do and don’t do, evaluate the risks when making decisions that can impact your health (like traveling to visit an unvaccinated friend), and take responsibility for the outcome of your actions.

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

No vaccine is 100% effective. You can still get (and transmit) COVID. If you are immunocompromised (which she was) and your system is weak enough, there is a chance you may not survive…even fully vaccinated.

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

This information has been available for some time. It’s sad that she trusted others with her health and, for whatever reason, didn’t get this info. These are the consequences. It’s not the unvaccinated person’s fault. She could have picked up COVID anywhere along her journey.

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

She made an unfortunate choice. Her family needs to stop trying to assign blame to others. Mistakes happen, sometimes with dire consequences. At the end of the day, we’re responsible for ourselves. Hopefully, not all of us have to learn that lesson the hard way.

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

Also, there should be no blame or shame on her part either. Perhaps her choice was, understanding the risks, to overcome her fear and chance it anyway because life is short.

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

That is a choice. A very valid one of you are willing to be responsible for the consequences if you miscalculate. But then, people who understand this don’t play the blame game in an obituary.

— René (@JustAGirlInAWo1) September 16, 2021

Again, how does the family even know she caught it from an unvaccinated person? There’s no test for that.

Related:

NPR: Man dies after being turned away from 43 ICUs at capacity due to COVID, according to his family https://t.co/enloDfCkJd

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 13, 2021