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- Conservative radio talk show host Phil Valentine is hospitalized with COVID-19, his family said.
- Valentine has said "you're probably safer not getting" the COVID-19 vaccine if you're not at high risk.
- His family says he now "regrets" not being more "pro-vaccine."
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A conservative radio talk show host who told followers "you're probably safer not getting" the COVID-19 vaccine if you're not at high risk is now hospitalized in serious condition with the coronavirus, according to his family.
Phil Valentine, who hosts "The Phil Valentine Show" on Nashville, Tennessee's WWTN-FM station, contracted COVID-19 more than a week ago "and has since been hospitalized and is in very serious condition," his family said in a statement Thursday.
Valentine, 61, is suffering from "COVID pneumonia and the attendant side effects," said the statement, which added, "He is in the hospital in the critical care unit breathing with assistance but is NOT on a ventilator."
Now that the radio host has become ill with the coronavirus he has "regrets" about past comments he has made about the vaccines for the virus, his family said.
"Phil would like for his listeners to know that while he has never been an 'anti-vaxer' [sic] 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," the family said.
Read more: Don't punish the vaccinated - make it harder to choose to be unvaccinated
In a Dec. 17 post on his blog, Valentine gave his views on the COVID-19 vaccines.
"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," he wrote.
Valentine continued, "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."
In the same post, Valentine wrote, "If I decide not to get vaccinated, I'm not putting anyone else's life in danger except perhaps people who have made the same decision."
Public health experts have urged people to get vaccinated against the disease, finding that the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the US are safe and effective at preventing serious illness and the spread of the disease.
Still, large swaths of the country remain unvaccinated as misinformation about the safety of the vaccines spreads.
Valentine posted on Facebook on July 11 that he had COVID-19.
"Unfortunately for the haters out there, it looks like I'm going to make it," he wrote. "Interesting experience. I'll have to fill you in when I come back on the air. I'm hoping that will be tomorrow, but I may take a day off just as a precaution. It'll be a game-time decision."
As recently as July 15, he shared doubts about the vaccine while posting a story about cancer-causing chemicals in Johnson & Johnson suncreen.
"Ah, but I'm sure their vaccine is perfectly safe," Valentine wrote. "Don't worry about it."
He has not posted since.
Valentine's family closed out the statement released this week, saying, "Please continue to pray for his recovery and PLEASE GO GET VACCINATED!"