Meanwhile on TikTok: Anti-Vaxxers Freaked By Viral ‘Vaccine Bandits’ Video (If Only This Were a Real Thing)

Talk about fake news that we wish was true. A viral video circulating on TikTok claims that there are “vaccine bandits” running around Los Angeles inoculating people against Covid against their will.

US filmmaker Gray Fagan is the man behind the vid, which has over 6 million views. It was meant to be a parody but the outrageous – and obviously false – story was taken seriously by anti-vaxxers, spreading fear among Covidiots faster than the deadly virus itself.

The video starts with a fake Los Angeles Times newspaper headline claiming “‘Vaccine Bandits’ take over Los Angeles Streets.” Then it shows black-and-white security camera footage of man approaching a woman and jabbing her in the arm.

“So apparently what these guys do is they walk up to you on the street, and they ask if you’re vaccinated — and if you hesitate at all, they inject you with a vaccine right on the spot,” the TikToker says in the video. “And then they, like, throw a vaccine card at you after they inject you, and it says, like ‘Hollywood Boulevard’ or wherever you got injected, and they even leave it blank, so you can fill in your name.”

Even more incredulous, the TikToker says the “vaccine bandits” hand over notes reading “See you in two weeks” to their victims, a jab at the double-dose necessity of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

While the video is obviously meant just for laughs, anti-vaxxers apparently aren’t sophisticated enough to tell truth from fiction.

“Do people actually think this okay,” one commenter wrote. “Sooooo illegal.”

“I’m provaccine but this is actually terrifying. Violent and violating,” another opined.

“This is funny and so scary at the same time,” a third said. “I hope it’s actually the vaccine and not something else.”

We suspect Fagan meant to amuse, not misinform, but once something hits the internet, there’s no way to control the reaction to it. Twitter users were even warning one another against “vaccine bandits” after the video went viral.

“Each individual video is purposely designed to ‘look’ and ‘feel’ real, all the while growing progressively more and more outlandish, which therein lies the joke,” Fagan responded to the bruhaha surrounding the video. “If the viewer fails to do any further inspection from there, it’s on them.”

Is it so wrong that we actually wish “vaccine bandits” were a thing? If that’s the fastest way to end this godforsaken pandemic, we say, go for it!

Cover Photo: @graysworld (TikTok)

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