MONDAY, Aug. 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Conservative radio talk show host Phil Valentine, a COVID-19 vaccine skeptic and mask mandate opponent, has died at age 61 of COVID-19.

“We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away,” his station, SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, tweeted Saturday afternoon. “Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Prior to his diagnosis with COVID-19 last month, Valentine voiced doubts about coronavirus vaccines, CBS News reported.

For example, in December of 2020, he tweeted, “I have a very low risk of A) Getting COVID and B) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?”

Before he was hospitalized with COVID-19, Valentine told listeners he was “taking vitamin D like crazy” and that a doctor agreed to prescribe him the anti-parasite drug ivermectin, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned Americans against taking ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19, and there’s no evidence that vitamin D provides any benefits, CBS News reported.

After Valentine’s condition began to worsen, his brother Mark Valentine went on the radio to say that Phil Valentine was “regretful that he wasn’t a more vocal advocate of the vaccination,” according to the AP.

“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,” his brother said on the air.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on COVID vaccines.

SOURCE: CBS News