Businesses plastered with anti-vax signs

A Greymouth businesswoman has slammed the work of anti-vaxxers who plastered anti-Covid vaccine stickers on shop windows under the cover of darkness earlier this week.

Adele Wilkins of Artico Hair Salon was alerted to the sticker by a customer on Thursday morning.

‘‘Whoever put it there was too gutless to do it during working hours,’’ Mrs Wilkins said.

‘‘They had no right to put it on our window. And if they wanted to put it up, the least they could have done was ask.

‘‘I’m angry they did not have the decency to ask – not that I would have let them anyway.’’

The same anti-vax message has been dropped in letterboxes all over Greymouth and Hokitika – again, apparently in the dead of the night.

Mrs Wilkins was concerned with the misinformation conveyed by the stickers and leaflet drop, which falsely claimed the vaccine had caused blood clots, stroke, nerve damage and facial paralysis at Te Nikau Hospital in Greymouth.

‘‘I am trying hard to look after my clients, and get everyone to sign in, and the information being put out there is just scaremongering and is making people nervous.

‘‘We are all working together as a community and all trying to keep each other safe, and then these stickers are undermining all of our good work.’’

Some people were nervous enough about getting the vaccine.

‘‘We closed at 5pm yesterday so the stickers must have been put up after that. Whoever did it knew if they did it in broad daylight they would be challenged,’’ Mrs Wilkins said.

Whoever was responsible was ‘‘hiding behind them.’’

‘‘They don’t use their name, or even say where they are getting their information from.’’

The stickers appeared overnight on businesses in Albert St, and more along Mackay St.

Some business owners were unaware of the stickers, but once they were informed they immediately ripped them off.

West Coast police said those responsible for the stickers were committing a crime under the Summary Offences Act.

‘‘If we receive complaints from business owners or if there is a recurrence we will investigate, and have CCTV cameras in the area we will be able to look at,’’ senior sergeant Mark Kirkwood said.

People needed permission from business owners if they wanted to put anything up in shop windows.

– By Viv Logie 

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Otago Daily Times can be found here ***