A Georgia sheriff’s captain has died from COVID-19 weeks after promoting anti-vaccination propaganda on social media.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office released a statement saying that Capt. Joe Manning died this week at the age of 57 after what officer Chuck Moseley described as a brief battle with COVID-19, local station WSAV reported Friday. he’s survived by his wife, three children, and eight grandchildren.
“Captain Manning was an integral part of our family and our hearts are broken,” Moseley said. “Our love and prayers go forward to his family.”
As noted by The Intercept’s Ken Klippenstein, Manning frequently posted anti-vaccine messages on his Facebook page, pushing people to take horse dewormer as a cure for the virus.
On August 14th, for instance, Manning posted a meme that stated, “If we lose on vaccines we will completely lose our right to sovereignty over our own bodies.”
That very same day, Manning informed his friends that “Wayne Feed and Seed has some liquid and past Ivermectin get it while supplies last.”
Some conservatives recently have promoted taking horse deworming medicine that contains ivermectin, even though it was not designed to treat the deadly virus.
When someone asked Manning in the comments if he needed to be dewormed, Manning replied, “don’t care as long as it works.”
In fact, the Center for Disease Control has advised people to not take horse deworming medicine that happens to contain ivermectin, as such medicines are designed for animals that weigh several times what the typical human weights.
Additionally, there is not nearly enough data yet to conclude whether ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19.
