Vaccine Victims Say They Were Manipulated by Media to Appear ‘Pro-Jab’

Clinical pharmacist Ellie Morton prepares to administer the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the community vaccination centre at Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus in London, England, on March 12, 2021. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Former GB News presenter Mark Steyn lost his High Court battle with broadcast regulator Ofcom on Wednesday, but the journalist has won praise from the COVID-19 vaccine injured and bereaved, who say they have been prevented from telling their stories or had their words twisted by mainstream media.

Alex Mitchell, who had to have his leg amputated because of the jab, and vaccine widows Charlotte Wright and Vikki Spit, said that when they appeared on Steyn’s show, he was “incredibly supportive” and allowed them and others to tell their stories without censorship.

But all three told The Epoch Times this was in marked contrast to their experience with other mainstream channels, who either refused to feature them, imposed terms and conditions, or twisted their words to make it appear that they remained in favour of the jabs, according to their accounts.

Wright’s husband, Stephen, was the first person in the UK officially recorded as having been killed by the AstraZeneca jab in January 2021, after his death was originally wrongly put down to natural causes.

The 32-year-old clinical psychologist received the vaccine early because he worked in the NHS and ran a private practice.

After having been left a young widow with two sons aged just 1 and 4 to bring up, Wright began speaking out on social media because she told The Epoch Times, “I felt that I had a responsibility … so that other people didn’t die.”

‘Blocked’ by ‘This Morning’

Former ITV and BBC journalist Anna Brees liaised with “This Morning” producers on her behalf, and Wright understood she was booked to appear on the daytime show.

“I remember getting myself ready, and freaking out because I realised I was going to be on the couch, and how much of a big deal that would be. And then I remember getting a call from Anna and her saying that ‘This Morning’ had been in touch ... the message was that due to the fact that [my] story may negatively impact the uptake of the vaccine, [I] could not appear on the show.”

Brees confirmed to The Epoch Times that Wright’s recollection of events is correct and that she had received an email from “This Morning” producers outlining the decision not to have her on.

Wright said, “It wasn’t until that moment that I thought, oh wow, there’s an actual block stopping me from speaking … there’s actual silencing happening.”

Sources at the daytime show told The Epoch Times that Wright was not confirmed as a guest, but did not dispute that Brees received the email outlining reasons why she could not appear.

It was not until 18 months later that she had national broadcasting interest again, this time from GB News, leading to her appearance on Steyn’s show. Following this positive experience, Wright, who lives in Kent, agreed to appear on “BBC South East.”

‘Manipulative Question’

When the BBC reporter asked in the interview if her husband would still have the jab if he was here “today,” she was taken aback and replied that he would.

“What I should have said was that I can’t answer that because he’s not here.

“It’s an imaginary and manipulative question. … From my point of view, Stephen took the vaccine with full faith in it. He’s not a different person so in my head, he would still trust them because he’s a doctor and he trusts the system.

“He took it very early on. … if he knew all of the information [that we know now] then maybe he wouldn’t.”

She went on to tell the BBC her husband’s death was rare, but she didn’t think it was as rare as people believed.

“But they cut the last bit, so they’ve only got me saying that this is a rare situation … if you watch it, you can see it’s a really weird cut where the presenter says, ‘It IS very rare,’ and goes into the benefits of the vaccine.”

“It made me look as if I was pushing the vaccine even though my husband had died, which is ridiculous—no one would do that.”

Wright adds that it was “such a bizarre thing” when she realised the vaccine injured and bereaved were being asked to endorse the very thing that had destroyed their lives and killed their loved ones.

“It meant that we had to think politically about how we would respond in interviews,” she said. “It’s unfair because none of us had media training. ... We were being asked to take a position on something, when that’s not we’re here for. We’re here to tell our stories.”

Zion and Vikki Spit in an undated photo. (Courtesy Vikki Spit)

Vikki Spit’s partner, a rock musician known as Zion, died aged 48 after he developed vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) just over a week after having the AstraZeneca jab in May 2020.

Spit approached the media in the summer of 2021 “in a panic” as teenagers were about to be offered the jab and she wanted to make people aware of its potentially lethal effects. She recalls contacting the BBC, ITN, and Sky initially.

Terms and Conditions

But she was told by the major broadcasters there would be conditions to featuring her story, which would involve her saying she was “not anti-vax” and would still be having the jabs herself.

In a state of grief and shock at having lost her partner of 20 years, Spit, who lives in Cumbria, agreed to the terms and was featured in a local news segment with “BBC North East.”

“I had to say that I hadn’t been vaccinated yet—because I was due to be vaccinated the day Zi died—but that I’d still get it,” she recalls.

A BBC North East and Cumbria article from July 1, 2021, quotes Spit as saying she “does not want to put anyone off” from being vaccinated, but that people shouldn’t be “fobbed off” if they develop a severe headache afterwards.

An ITV Border report from July 5, 2021, quotes her as saying: “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this. I am still going to be vaccinated because it is important for people to be vaccinated, but it is also unnecessary for people to die from the vaccinations.”

In fact, she has never taken any COVID-19 jabs and says she will not take any new vaccines unless they have been around “for a minimum of 10 years and have been proven to be genuinely safe and effective.”

‘Don’t Talk About Lisa Shaw’

Spit said that during filming with BBC news, she talked to the crew about Lisa Shaw, the BBC Radio Newcastle presenter who died from the vaccine in May 2021 and was in the same hospital ward at the same time as Zion.

“They said that there’s been a memo sent around the BBC saying, ‘Don’t talk about Lisa Shaw,’” she said, adding that many of the vaccine-injured and bereaved in the support group she set up with Wright have had “words put in their mouth” by the media, to make them appear pro-vaccine.

Alex Mitchell, pictured on his scooter in May 2021. (Courtesy of Andrew Cawley)

Scotsman Alex Mitchell tells a similar story involving a newspaper interview, which left him feeling “kicked while he was down,” after his leg amputation following a severe case of VITT caused by the AstraZeneca jab in March 2021.

As he processed what had happened to him and began a gruelling physio regime, Mitchell approached the media, assuming that journalists would want to help raise awareness.

But he said he felt “stitched up” after the first major interview he did with the Scottish Sunday Post, with the article’s headline declaring that the “one in a million, inspirational amputee” was still “urging everyone to get the vaccine.”

The article, dated May 2, 2021, states that, “His priority is the battle ahead and ensuring no one is discouraged from getting the vaccine due to his ordeal.”

‘Abuse’ Following Article

Mitchell told The Epoch Times, “Can you imagine the stick I took, the abuse I got, for that article?”

He categorically denies that he said, “It’s only going to affect maybe one or two people, so don’t let it put you off.”

Although he believed at the time that such a serious case of VITT was indeed very rare, he recalls telling the reporter that people should make their own decision after weighing up the risks and benefits.

In 2022, Mitchell’s story went viral after he took to social media in frustration after his application to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme took so long to be processed that he almost lost his family home. After this, he was invited onto GB News with Steyn and has been featured by many high-profile podcasters.

To this day, however, he said neither the BBC nor ITN has asked to interview him.

“Mainstream media need to take a good look at themselves, as well as the politicians. Like everyone else, I tried to reach out to mainstream media and got shafted by them.”

Ofcom’s Role

The Epoch Times contacted the BBC, ITV, ITN, and “This Morning” press departments but all refused to comment, as did The Sunday Post.

Ofcom issued guidelines in March 2020, when the first national lockdown began, to “remind” broadcasters of “the significant potential harm that can be caused by material relating to the Coronavirus.”

The watchdog said this could include “medical advice which may be harmful,” and “accuracy or material misleadingness in programmes in relation to the virus or public policy regarding it.”

The regulator investigated GB News a number of times in relation to its reporting on vaccine damage and twice found that Steyn had been in breach of its guidance. He departed the channel when it said he would have to be responsible for paying any Ofcom fines, and now works as an independent journalist.