Texas gubernatorial hopeful Allen West tweets about his COVID-19 hospitalization

Texas GOP candidate for governor Allen West, hospitalized with COVID-19, has been tweeting criticism of vaccine mandates and the government’s response to the pandemic, as he recovers in the hospital. 

West, who is not vaccinated, has been undergoing monoclonal antibody therapy, as well as taking hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, which are not federally authorized treatments for COVID-19. West’s vaccinated wife also contracted COVID-19, but was she was released from the hospital, according to West’s Twitter account. 

He tweeted Sunday that his experience with COVID-19 made him “even more dedicated to fighting against vaccine mandates,” and called the COVID-19 vaccine “dangerous,” even though studies show the opposite — that the vaccine is safe and those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are far less likely to be hospitalized or die than the unvaccinated. West also tweeted that the U.S. shouldn’t be “enriching the pockets of Big Pharma,” although he touted a monoclonal antibody infusion therapy treatment he took that is made by pharmaceutical company Regeneron. Regeneron’s cocktail costs the U.S. $2,100 per dose. Pfizer’s vaccine, the most expensive of the three used domestically, costs the U.S. $19.50/dose.

“I am thankful that the medical professionals here at Medical City listened to me . . . not some boiler plate CDC, Dr Fauci, or Texas Medical Board mandates,” West, 60, tweeted Monday morning. “I am not a conspiracy theorist but something very nefarious is at work here , and the innocent blood of Texans are on some dirty, corrupt hands. I promise y’all, as Governor of Texas, I will find those hands and ensure they’re held accountable.”

West, a former congressman and former chairman of the Texas Republican Party, is challenging Republican Governor Greg Abbott in the GOP gubernatorial primary next year. West’s critics claim he used his position as Texas GOP chairman, which he relinquished in July, to launch his bid for governor.

West was a key member of the Tea Party movement that swept the country during the Obama years, and was criticized for his characterizations of Islam and of Mr. Obama.

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from CBS News can be found here ***