Tory radio host skeptical of vaccines now hospitalized, family begs others to get vaccinated

A Tennessee radio host who told listeners the COVID vaccine was not needed is now hospitalized with the virus, and he and his family instantly changed their tone.

Phil Valentine used his radio show on WWTN-FM in Nashville to broadcast questionable vaccine shots, and his latest Facebook post pokes fun at the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

But now his sister Beth and brother Mark’s pages are very different as Phil needs help breathing in a hospital’s COVID ward, according to updates from Beth.

© Jean Locher
In this April 26, 2021 photo, a nursing student administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a UNLV vaccination center in Las Vegas.

In this April 26, 2021 photo, a nursing student administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a UNLV vaccination center in Las Vegas. (Jean Locher /)

“Having seen this firsthand and personally, I encourage ALL of you to put politics and other concerns aside and understand,” Mark wrote on Wednesday. “When the technician came out and asked… ‘Do you have any questions or concerns about the vaccine? I said, ‘Damn, but I’m still going to get it.’ “

Phil has had the virus since at least July 16, according to his Twitter page. Beth said Friday night he was using a respirator to help him breathe, but was not on a respirator, although she noted that would be the next step if his condition worsened.

In one declaration Via WWTN, the family said Phil had also changed his stance on the vaccine.

“He regrets not being more vociferously ‘pro-vaccine’ and looks forward to being able to defend that position more vigorously once he returns to the air,” the family said.

Valentines join a long list of hesitant to vaccinate who have regretted their decision. More recently, an Alabama doctor told his story to dying patients that it was too late for the vaccine to save them.

“I’ve made a LOT of progress encouraging people to get vaccinated lately !!!” Dr Brytney Cobia, a hospitalist at Birmingham’s Grandview Medical Center, wrote on Facebook. “Do you want to know how?” I admit healthy young people with very serious COVID infections to the hospital. One of the last things they do before they are intubated is begging me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them I’m sorry, but it’s too late.

Tennessee recently fired the head of vaccines from its health department after encouraging teens to get vaccinated.