People Are Hiding That Unvaccinated Loved Ones Died of COVID

Before the vaccines, dying from COVID was a tragedy. Today, those same deaths increasingly come with an interrogation, often conducted online, about the vaccine status of the person who passed away. And if they happen to be unvaccinated, the lack of empathy and criticism starts. Here's what one patient advocate had to say:

“I have people reaching out to me confiding on a more one-on-one level that they’re struggling and they want to talk about their loss, but they don’t feel safe. They’re afraid they will be attacked or they’re afraid of their loved one being attacked.”

As a result of this backlash, people feel compelled to hide the real cause of death for their loved ones and keep it private instead. This is sad, and may be leading to what author Kenneth Doka describes as "disenfranchised grief", a situation "when a living loved one doesn’t feel they can fully grieve because of the societal taboos around a loved one’s death."

As the article rightly notes, it's not true that every unvaccinated person is an anti-vaxxer, and the frustration among the vaccinated for those who aren't is rapidly transforming into cruelty. The death of a loved one is still a tragedy, whether it may have been preventable or not ... which means we all have a chance to practice more empathy and understanding for those who die and their loved ones. Regardless of their vaccine choices.