By Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times (TNS)
LOS ANGELES — After Kelly Ernby succumbed to complications related to COVID-19 at age 46, the internet exploded with comments blaming her for her own death.
As an outspoken critic of vaccine mandates and a rising star in the Orange County Republican party, Ernby has become, postmortem, a lightning rod for a conflict that has split a nation entering the third year of a pandemic.
Ernby, a Huntington Beach, California, resident, was not vaccinated against COVID-19 when she died earlier this week, according to friends.
A collage Ernby posted on Facebook Christmas Day — posing with her husband, Axel, at the harbor; her dog, Nixon, at the beach; her late mother’s headstone — drew thousands of comments.
Some offered condolences to her family and fond remembrances. Many others were strangers who slammed Ernby.
“She did this to herself,” one person said.
Another wrote, “Congratulations on winning your very own Darwin award.”
Ernby’s death highlighted simmering tensions between those who see mandates as government overreach and those who see vaccines as vital to ending the pandemic.
The fast-spreading omicron variant has heightened the debate, as vaccines and boosters have been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of serious illness.
In California, about 75% of adults have had at least one vaccine dose, according to The L.A. Times tracker. But vaccine hesitancy has been evident in many cross-sections of the state, including among conservatives in places like suburban Orange County.
Some of Ernby’s friends are outraged by the attacks, saying her stance against mandatory vaccine rules was just a small part of who she was.
She was also a respected prosecutor who specialized in consumer protection and environmental enforcement. After losing a bid for state Assembly, she threw herself into grass-roots Republican organizing.
Many Orange County Republicans praised her behind-the-scenes work and dedication to conservative values.
“This wasn’t just somebody who wanted to hear what you had to say because you’re a voter, and then we’ll move onto the next voter. She cared,” said Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner. “She was the right sort of person and personality that I want to encourage in the Republican Party.”
Ernby’s friend, Ben Chapman, who is chairman of the Greater Costa Mesa Republicans, said he received “hundreds of disgusting tweets, emails and comments on social media” after her death.
“Kelly was not anti-vaccine, she was anti-mandatory vaccine — a belief she and I have always shared,” Chapman said in a text message. “She always put a smile on our faces and encouraged us to fight for what we believe in.”
Chapman, who is also not vaccinated against COVID-19, said on Twitter that he will never get vaccinated or urge his friends to get vaccinated. And he had pointed words for those who criticized Ernby and others for not getting the shots.
“However, I will not shame my friends who choose to get vaccinated,” he added. “This is what separates civil human beings from the blindsided partisan unhinged. Your bigoted tweets to me will never change our minds.”
Vaccinated people without underlying health conditions in Ernby’s age group rarely fall severely ill or die of COVID-19, whether they have contracted earlier variants or the omicron variant now sweeping across the nation, data have shown.
Ernby was opposed to vaccine mandates even before the pandemic. In late 2019, she spoke publicly against a new California law tightening immunization rules for schoolchildren.
“I don’t think that the government should be involved in mandating what vaccines people are taking,” she said at an online town hall. “I think that’s a decision between doctors and their patients. ... If the government is going to mandate vaccines, what else are they going to mandate?”
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