After several months of persecution and threats by denial groups, Lisa-Maria Kellermayr, an Austrian doctor who was at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 in Austria and was one of the great defenders of vaccination, was found dead. at your hospital. .clinic
The circumstances of the death are still being investigated, but everything indicates that the doctor ended her own life. Authorities have told journalists that they have found three suicide notes and that they will not carry out an autopsy on the body, reports the British newspaper The Guardian. The case shocked the country and has generated several mobilizations and tributes, with the Austrian president calling for an end to intimidation and fear.
Lisa-Maria Kellermayr was one of the most mediatic doctors, especially on the subject of Covid-19. Right at the start of the pandemic, she was one of the first to get ahead of herself and even offered to visit infected people at her home for two weeks, 24-hour shifts. Lisa also frequently shared pro-vaccination ideas on Twitter and gave interviews on the subject. But not everyone liked her. The doctor received several hate messages and, in November of last year, she even saw how the clinic where she worked was being surrounded a group of anti-vaccine protestersthat blocked the main entrance.
At the time, Kellermayr asked for police protection, but authorities apparently dismissed the case and his request was denied. “What happened to me can happen to anyone,” he said in his last interview with the Austrian newspaper Der Standard. The doctor had to hire a private security guard, who repeatedly prevented armed people from entering the clinic. After spending more than 100,000 euros on security, Lisa Kellermayr assumed that “it would be cheaper to close the clinic”.
The Austrian police denied, however, that they had not taken the threats directed at the doctor seriously. “We have been in constant contact with her since November and have tried to offer her protection from her. We did everything we could security-wise, in addition to investigating [as ameaças]. Investigations are continuing,” an Austrian police spokesman was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
The case has generated a wave of support throughout Austria, with Doctors ask for more protection and the creation of strict laws against harassment and psychological warfare. Several tribute vigils also followed, the last of which took place this Monday in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has already reacted to the case and called for “an end to intimidation and fear.” “Hate and intolerance have no place in our country”he said, lamenting the threats directed at the doctor, first online and then in person, in a country that has one of the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates in Europe.
Source: Observadora
