A CONSERVATIVE talk show host who repeatedly spread misinformation about Covid-19 and mocked vaccines is now “fighting for his life” after falling ill with the virus.
Family members of Phil Valentine, who hosts a talk radio show in Nashville, Tennessee, say “he got it wrong” on vaccines and are now urging his supporters to get inoculated.
“His position has changed. I mean it simply has…,” Phil’s brother Mark Valentine told WSMV.
“He got it wrong he should have been more adamantly pro-vaccination, and he wasn’t.”
Valentine tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks ago.
He initially told his family and supporters that he was doing fine, even joking about his diagnosis on Facebook.
“Unfortunately for the haters out there, it looks like I’m going to make it,” he wrote, adding that he expected to return to his show within a day or two.
However, seven days later, his health took a dramatic turn for the worse and he was hospitalized in a critical condition with Covid-related pneumonia.
‘HE GOT WEAKER AND WEAKER’
Valentine, who once said that he wasn’t going to get the vaccine because his chances of dying were “way less than one percent”, is now hooked up to a ventilator at night, and an oxygen mask in the day, to help him breathe.
“All of a sudden, he got weaker and weaker and felt worse and worse. And I think it was Friday a week ago; they x-rayed him and said that he had Covid-related pneumonia in his right lung,” Mark Valentine said.
“His situation deteriorated incredibly, and it scared everybody to death. He was very close to not making it.”
Valentine was still in a critical condition on Sunday afternoon but has since stabilized in the last 48 hours.
“When he’s not sleeping, he’s fully conversed and communicative and alert. Yesterday, he was on his computer thinking he was feeling much better,” Mark Valentine said.
“And I haven’t gotten much of a report this morning other than it’s still very rocky, and he’s stable. But still a very sick guy.”
‘YOU’RE PROBABLY SAFER NOT GETTING IT’
Valentine had repeatedly downplayed Covid-19 and dismissed guidance from health officials about the seriousness of the virus and the importance of getting vaccinated.
When the Pfizer vaccine was first approved for use in the US last December, Valentine wrote in a blog post that, because of “common sense”, he wouldn’t be getting a vaccine.
“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 1 percent,” he said.
“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.”
After confirming his diagnosis on July 11, Valentine said he believed he was on the “other side” of the illness, but added he’d been suffering from a painful cough, congestion, and fatigue.
“I’m certainly moving forward, it appears, but certainly not in a straight line,” he said.
PEDDLING MISINFORMATION
Before he was hospitalized, Valentine also announced that he was “taking the vitamin D like crazy” and had found a doctor who agreed to prescribe ivermectin.
Ivermectin, which is typically used to treat parasitic worms in animals, has been touted among some on the right as a promising Covid treatment but is not approved for use by the FDA.
As his condition worsened, Valentine’s family released a statement on Friday on his behalf insisting he wished he’d been more “vehemently” in favor of vaccines.
“Phil would like for his listeners to know that while he has never been an ‘anti-vaxer’ he regrets not being more vehemently ‘Pro-Vaccine,’ and looks forward to being able to more vigorously advocate that position as soon as he is back on the air, which we all hope will be soon,” it read.
“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!”
CHANGE OF HEART
Speaking on CNN on Tuesday morning, Mark said his brother’s diagnosis “basically scared [him] straight” into getting vaccinated, having earlier been hesitant himself.
“I went directly to the Walmart and got the vaccine and said, you know, you pick the arm, I don’t care, just do it.”
He added that his mission is to tell other vaccine skeptics to “quit worrying about the politics and the conspiracies and all that sort of stuff.”
“If Phil were able to tell you that’s what he would tell you, and when he gets back to the microphone, that’s exactly what his position is going to be.
“The very short assessment of this is he got it wrong. And he wants to do everything he can to make sure that as many people get vaccinated as can.”
Valentine is one of more than 500 people currently hospitalized with Covid-19 in Tennessee.
The state of Tennessee has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Around 97 percent of those hospitalized are unvaccinated.
“The politics needs to be taken out of this thing. This is a public health situation,” Mark Valentine said.
“The defining number for me is 97 percent of the people in the hospital with COVID right now are unvaccinated. So that’s where the discussion needs to end because that’s the fact so go get the doggone vaccination.”
