'See You Soon, Idiots' Man Uses 13-Foot Skeleton to Send Message to Unvaccinated

A North Carolina man is sending a stark message to unvaccinated neighbors and passersby, installing a large skeleton and tombstones in his yard to drive home the grim reality of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jesse Jones, who has lived at his current address in Raleigh for 14 years, turned his passion for extravagant Halloween decorations into a warning to those who remain unvaccinated even as new infections spike in his state, news station WRAL reported on Thursday. He set up a 13-foot skeleton with an ominous message that read, "Not vaccinated, see you soon idiots."

Jones told the station that he hopes his bizarre decorations will convince someone to get the jab. His 90-year-old mother-in-law died of COVID-19, and he's upset over her death. He also hopes his somber yard display will work to address some of the misinformation widely circulating about the coronavirus and vaccines.

"It's because of all this misinformation, and people are selfish, Jones told Raleigh's The News & Observer this week. "Maybe we can get one or two people vaccinated."

A series of tombstones he's set up blame right-wing media and former President Donald Trump for misinformation related to the pandemic. One tombstone's message reads, "I got my news from Fox," while another says, "I listened to Trump."

Jones hopes the display will help people listen to reliable sources of information like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health experts, according to WRAL.

Other tombstones in the lawn display read, "Shouldn't have tried the bleach" and "My Dr. is on YouTube," according to The News & Observer.

As of Thursday, about 63 percent of North Carolina's adult residents had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a New York Times tracker. About 54 percent have received both shots. For the state's entire population, 52 percent have received one dose, and 44 percent have gotten the two jabs.

North Carolina has given out three $1 million prizes as part of a vaccination lottery draw to encourage more people to get the shots in the state. Audrey Chavous, an 18-year-old set to start her freshman year of college, was the lucky third winner of the monetary prize.

The state has also been offering $100 cash cards at select clinics for residents who go to get their first dose of a vaccine. Individuals who drive people to their vaccine appointments in North Carolina are also eligible for cash cards of $25.

Even as new infections have risen, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has resisted calls to implement stricter pandemic measures or a mask mandate. He has said that vaccinations are the way to combat the virus.

"We really believe that people now know what to do to protect themselves and other people, and our primary focus is going to be on vaccinations," Cooper said. "We don't want to do those other things if we don't have to, so we're going to continue making vaccinations the primary operation here."

Newsweek reached out to Cooper's press office for further comment on vaccination efforts but did not immediately receive a response.