About halfway through an hour-long Facebook live video denouncing coronavirus vaccines as the “death spell” and discussing the merits of whistling at anyone who asks you to wear a face mask, Melody Goddess Star took three deep breaths from her vaporizer.
He then launched into a discussion about new COVID-19 security protocols in New Brunswick, a province on Canada’s east coast.
“It has become the first Canadian measure to prohibit or allow, excuse me, the prohibition of dishonest buyers,” Estrella said in the Dec. 7 video. “Can you believe it? So now the tyranny is, this fascist reality (expletive) is that if these citizens don’t abide by the death hex rules and regulations and take their blows, they get their reinforcements and have 100% proof of that they are good and obedient little sheep that I have no doubt what the silly narrative is, that they cannot buy … groceries. ”
Estrella’s Facebook page is a personal blog described as “a conduit for Universal Consciousness.” His video, which has been viewed more than 25,000 times, has been flagged by independent fact-checkers on Facebook as containing “partially false information.”
That’s because people who haven’t been vaccinated against the coronavirus are not prohibited from shopping in New Brunswick.
Estrella quotes an eTurboNews headline, which reads: “No jab, no food: New Brunswick grocery stores can now ban unvaccinated shoppers.” The article published on Dec. 6 reports that New Brunswick is the “first Canadian province to allow supermarkets to ban shoppers of unvaccinated food,” adding that grocery stores can “turn away shoppers who are not vaccinated against. COVID-19 “.
The article references an announcement about New Brunswick’s Winter Health Plan, which consists of a three-tier system for implementing safety precautions based on recent COVID-19 metrics in the region, including average new cases, rate of positivity and hospitalizations.
New Brunswick entered Tier 1, the least restrictive tier, on December 4.
At level 1, outdoor face masks are required if social distancing is not possible. Social distancing is also mandatory inside businesses that do not require proof of the COVID-19 vaccine, including “retail stores, shopping malls, beauty salons, and spas.”
“These places may choose to implement physical distancing measures or require proof of vaccination for all clients,” the government said in a press release on December 4.
The conservative Canadian Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms issued a statement against the policy, saying that “the right to food is a fundamental human right.”
“Potentially depriving citizens of food constitutes an act of cruelty,” said staff attorney Andre Memauri. “It is discriminatory, unconstitutional and probably a crime under international law.”
But according to the nonprofit fact-checking website PolitiFact, New Brunswick’s COVID-19 security measures don’t stop anyone from buying food. It simply means that grocery stores have the “option to require proof of vaccination when a physical distance of 2 meters is not possible within a store.”
“The policy does not require any retail store to request proof of vaccination,” reported PolitiFact. “Nor does it prevent unvaccinated people from buying food in that province or in the rest of the country.”
As Health Minister Dorothy Shephard told CBC News, retailers “have the option of requiring proof of vaccination from all customers.” But, he said, “we will leave that decision to individual companies.”
One of Canada’s two national supermarket chains, Sobeys, has said it will not ask for proof of coronavirus vaccination, CBC News reported. Public health officials also said that all major retailers have indicated that they will enforce social distancing in lieu of asking for proof of vaccination.
New Brunswick announced on December 10 that the province will remain in Level 1 of the Winter Plan amid a slight increase in cases and a decrease in hospitalizations.
“Those most at risk are the unvaccinated, as well as the elderly and people with pre-existing health problems,” Medical Director for Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said in a news release. “If you choose to remain unvaccinated, please protect yourself from this disease by avoiding gatherings where you can contract this virus, and protect others by avoiding contact with vulnerable people whose immune systems may not be able to protect them.”
Public health data shows that approximately 88% of the New Brunswick population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 82% are fully vaccinated, and 9% have received a booster shot.
Hayley Fowler is a reporter for The Charlotte Observer covering real-time and breaking news in North Carolina and South Carolina. She has a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and previously worked as a legal reporter in New York City before joining the Observer in 2019.
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