Black Republican Allen West Hospitalized With COVID-19 But Still Opposes Vaccine Mandates
Allen West, a conservaitve Republican running for governor of Texas, and his wife, Angela West, are recovering from COVID-19 after they were hospitalized, and the politician is doubling down against mandates surrounding vaccination.
“As Governor of Texas, I will vehemently crush anyone forcing vaccine mandates in the Lone Star State,” he tweeted on Oct. 10. “There are far better protocols that individual citizens can utilize and decide for themselves.”
The former Florida congressman, who is unvaccinated received monoclonal antibodies treatment, which involves injecting lab-created proteins into the body that mimic the human immune system.
According to The Washington Post, West, 60, had pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital on Saturday (Oct. 9) night over his oxygen saturation levels. He had attended a crowded political fundraiser earlier that day and suspended in-person events.
From his hospital bed, the candidate fired off a series of tweets attacking vaccine mandates and promoting controversial treatments. West said he has taken hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug, and ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that is also a popular animal dewormer and that multiple people in the medical field have warned against taking. The newspaper noted that neither drug was approved for COVID-19 treatment.
West also criticized vaccine mandates of approved COVID-19 shots as “a means to enriching the pockets of Big Pharma and corrupt bureaucrats and politicians.”
Yet, a dose of monoclonal antibodies costs $2,100, compared to $20 for the most expensive coronavirus shot, The Post underscored.
A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and the former Texas Republican Party chairman, West announced in July that he will try to unseat Texas’ GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
The one-term former U.S. representative was swept into Congress in 2011 as part of the Tea Party wave. In 2014, he called for the impeachment of former President Barack Obama.
West and his wife were in the news when Angela was arrested in August on suspicion of driving under the influence. They both denied the charge, and he demanded an apology from the Dallas County Sheriff's Office.
