TN Conservative Radio Host Says He Regrets Being Skeptical, Hospitalized For COVID-19

A conservative Tennessee radio host regrets being hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine and now encourages his listeners to get it.

Mark Valentine was listed in critical care on supplemental oxygen, his brother Phil Valentine told WWTN-FM in Nashville on Thursday.

Phil was the host of an afternoon talk radio show on the station for years.

“First of all, he’s regretful that he wasn’t a more vocal advocate of the vaccination,” Mark Valentine said of his brother. “For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, ‘Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories.’”

Mark says his brother “got this one wrong” when it came to being anti-vaccine. He also labeled him “pro-information” and “pro-choice” when it came to the vaccine.

Once Phil tested positive for the virus, he told his listeners to consider, “If I get this COVID thing, do I have a chance of dying from it?” If so, he urged them to get vaccinated. He also admitted that he had not gotten vaccinated because he thought he probably wouldn’t die.

At one point, he told listeners that he was “taking vitamin D like crazy” and had spoken with a doctor who agreed to prescribe ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasites in animals. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns people against taking ivermectin for COVID-19, saying it can be dangerous.

Mark received his vaccine dose after his brother became ill. His decision to do so was primarily based on the family he is responsible for and said that not getting vaccinated “is just a selfish position to have, and, absent any concrete evidence to the contrary in terms of side effects and negative effects of the vaccine, I have a duty to do that.”