Editing Kate Shemirani (section)

==[[COVID denialism]] and [[Anti-vaxxers|Anti-vaxx]] activism==
In 2020 Shemirani called the COVID pandemic a "scamdemic" and claimed that there was no evidence it existed. She later claimed that COVID was a conspiracy to control the masses and that the COVID vaccine was a weapon designed to alter people's DNA.<ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/anti-vaccine-protest-leader-mum-22713562 Anti-vaccine protest leader is 'mum-of-four who says coronavirus doesn't exist'], ''The Daily Mirror''</ref>

During a December 2020 interview with Sky News, Shemirani claimed that no vaccine has ever been shown to work or be effective, and that she doesn't believe COVID-19 exists.<ref>[https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/sussex-news/sussex-anti-vaxer-wild-claims-4779364.amp The 'nonsense' claims made by Sussex mum about the coronavirus vaccine on Sky News], ''Sussex Live''</ref> Both her Facebook and Twitter accounts had previously been deleted for spreading misinformation, linking the disease to 5G masts and claiming that the [[September 11 attacks]] were faked.<ref>[https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2020/07/01/british-conspiracy-theorists-key-dangerous-anti-vaccine-movement/ Dangerous Anti-Vaxx Brits], ''Hope not Hate''</ref>

Shemirani is well-known for comparing any measures taken against the virus to [[the Holocaust]], to the point that it got her medical license revoked. In 2020 she accused the NHS of [[genocide]] for allegedly issuing Do Not Resuscitate orders on COVID patients, comparing the organisation to the infamous [[Auschwitz Birkenau]] death camp.<ref>[https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/20/anti-mask-protest-leader-is-suspended-nurse-who-compared-lockdown-to-the-holocaust-13299606/amp/ Anti-mask protest leader is suspended nurse who compared lockdown to the Holocaust], ''Metro''</ref> She asked in one post, "When are people going to wake up? On the cattle truck? Or in the showers?", referencing the gassing of Jews in the showers at the Auschwitz camp.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-bill-gates-hoax-vaccine-5g-qanon-protest-piers-corbyn-b575326.html?amp 'This is genocide': Inside the bizarre rise of coronavirus conspiracy theories], ''The Independent''</ref> In 2021, she compared NHS doctors and nurses to those sentenced to death at the Doctor's Trial following [[World War II]] and demanded that they be sent to prison.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57962675 Covid vaccine: Speech comparing NHS medics to Nazis condemned], ''BBC News''</ref>

Her brand of COVID denial is so extreme that fellow denialist [[Piers Corbyn]], who once called COVID-19 "a psychological operation", refuses to associate with her.<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/piers-corbyn-blamed-for-split-among-coronavirus-deniers-hq3lm333c Piers Corbyn blamed for split among coronavirus deniers], ''The Times''</ref>