Howell – Howell Councilwoman Pamela Richmond is facing criticism for posting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media. Health experts are concerned that misinformation about vaccination may result in additional deaths and sickness that could be prevented. Richmond is a Republican who was elected to the Howell Township Council in 2018.

Over the course of the pandemic, Richmond’s social media accounts have downplayed the pandemic as a hoax and have discouraged people from getting vaccinated and wearing masks.

Richmond promoted an anti-mask protest at Target where shouting, unmasked protestors marched through the store.

After the Howell School district mandated masks in the fall of 2020, Richmond commented on her Twitter page that, “Covid has a 99.9% recovery rate in case you haven’t checked the “science.” Do your homework and your job.”

According to data from the John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center the recovery rate in the United States is actually 98.2%. This is nearly 20 times the death rate claimed by Richmond. Currently, over 580,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

Somewhat ironically, Howell Mayor Theresa Berger, a Democrat, is the CEO Ocean Health Initiatives (OHI), a company that is administering COVID-19 vaccinations throughout New Jersey. In March, Richmond attempted to block a free vaccinations program for Howell senior citizens in Howell Town Hall, complaining that the free vaccines were provided by OHI.

As recently as this Monday, Richmond shared posts on social media criticizing a free vaccination event in Belmar, referring to the vaccines as “unapproved medical interventions.” Inconsistently, she has at other times encouraged vaccinations.