Like a number of other vegans and animal activists around the world, Glynn Steel decided against getting the COVID vaccine, as they had been previously trialled on animals. Unfortunately for him, he quickly regretted that decision after he tested positive for the virus in October.
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Tragic death
According to an account given by his wife, Emma Steel, Glynn started exhibiting cold-like symptoms, after which he decided to take a lateral flow test to see if he was infected. On 27 October he found out that he was in fact positive, and subsequently his health rapidly deteriorated to the extent that Emma had to rush him to Worcestershire Royal Hospital just a few days later. She said:
I still don't know how I got him in my car. He was so heavy that I couldn't even push him in a wheelchair at the hospital.
In the following days, he was admitted to the intensive care unit and was even put in an induced coma. Emma Steel also mentioned that he repeatedly asked to get vaccinated during his time in the hospital. She added:
The last thing Glynn said to me was 'I have never felt so ill, I wish that I had had the vaccine'. It was heart wrenching.
He begged for the vaccine when he was in intensive care before he went on life support but they said that it was too late.
Despite the best efforts of the medical staff, he didn’t make it out alive and passed away on 16 November.
Getting vaccinated as a vegan
As reported by Mail Online, Steel was an avid animal lover who rescued and took care of six cats and dogs. He didn’t want to take the vaccine after he heard that Pfizer/BioNTech, Johnson and Johnson, and Moderna all tested their vaccines on animals prior to trial on humans.
Legally, all companies that are manufacturing vaccines and other drugs are obligated to test their products on animals. It is for this reason that even the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is encouraging all vegans to get their COVID jabs. They believe that refusing to take the jab, or any other medicine for that matter, will not help the animals 'who have already been used in tests or spare any the same fate in the future.' The organisation stated on their website:
To keep yourself and others as fit and healthy as possible – and allow you to continue advocating for animals – please follow the advice of your health-care provider on taking a medicine.
