Nashville radio talk show host Phil Valentine (61) is still in critical condition after being hospitalized for COVID-19 over two weeks ago, reports WBUR.
On his show, Valentine was well-known for his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines.
He refuses to take the vaccine because he believed the odds were in his favor.
On his blog, he wrote:
"I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I'm just using common sense. What are my odds of getting COVID? They're pretty low. What are my odds of dying from COVID if I do get it? Probably way less than one percent. I'm doing what everyone should do and that's my own personal health risk assessment. If you have underlying health issues you probably need to get the vaccine. If you're not at high risk of dying from COVID then you're probably safer not getting it. That evokes shrieks of horror from many, but it's true. I'm weighing the known versus the unknown."
Phil Valentine is now claiming he made a mistake — and should have taken the vaccine.
Phil's brother Mark issued a statement urging people to get vaccinated:
Phil & his family would like for all of you to know that he loves ya'll and appreciates your concern, thoughts & prayers more than you will ever know. Please continue to pray for his recovery and PLEASE GO GET VACCINATED!
From WBUR:
The radio host believed he would be back at his job within a few days of first getting the virus. Instead, he was "very close to death at several points" when his oxygen levels dropped, his brother says. While Phil Valentine has been communicative, health care workers have encouraged him to sleep as much as possible to save strength, Mark Valentine says.
"A lot of people didn't get the vaccine because I didn't get the vaccine," the radio talk show host told his brother. Now Mark Valentine is on a mission to spread Phil Valentine's new view on COVID-19 vaccines.
"That's my purpose for being here today, is to take the message that he's unable to take, and that is: Take politics out of it. It's time for us to get together and fight this thing collectively," he says. "Just put all the conspiracies and microchips and all that business aside and go get vaccinated and don't put your family through what his wife and the rest of us are going through."
[image: By Ashashyou – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0]
