Mark Hamill Pokes Fun At Anti-Vaxxers As 1978 Star Wars Vaccination Advert Is Unearthed

Conservative media went doolally this week when the loveable Muppets of Sesame Street said they were getting vaccinated against COVID and urged their young viewers to do the same. This was met with cries that the characters were akin to the Nazis, that they’d be responsible for the mass deaths to follow, and the assertion from Arizona state senator Wendy Rogers that “Big Bird is a communist“.

But Sesame Street has a long history of promoting public health efforts over the decades, along with many other popular children’s characters. One specific image that generated discussion yesterday showed Star Wars‘ R2D2 and C-3PO in a 1978 poster asking parents if their children are fully immunized. Mark Hamill saw the post and responded with a deadpan:

Making the COVID vaccine part of the culture war might be the most self-destructive thing conservative media has ever done. While the anti-vax side ranges from protesting mandates to frothing at the mouth about DNA-rewriting Jewish nanobots, their actions have all resulted in vaccination becoming a partisan issue.

The immediate result is that the vast majority of those now dying from COVID are unvaccinated, and a glance at the maps where deaths are occurring shows that the highest tolls are in heavily red states. There are even fears that so many Republican voting Americans are dying, it could tip the balance towards the Democrats in particularly tight swing counties.

This has led to the anti-vax movement being described by scientists as akin to a death cult. If you want proof head over to the sobering r/HermainCainAward on Reddit and check out the countless stories of smug anti-vaxxers now pushing up daisies.

So follow the Star Wars example and get your jab!