The regrets of the unvaccinated: why Covid-bereaved families are speaking out

Phil Valentine was a Tennessee-based conservative talk radio host who was sceptical about the US government’s response to the coronavirus crisis. He was not completely ‘anti-vax’, but he did not think he was vulnerable to Covid and talked on air about his decision not to be vaccinated. He even performed a song called Vaxman, a parody of the Beatles’ Taxman. Shortly after the song was released, he contracted the virus.

Before Valentine died, he sent a message to his brother Mark from hospital about his regret. He asked him to tell others to get the vaccine to make amends for the message he had spread on his show.

In this episode, Michael Safi speaks to Mark Valentine about his efforts to carry out his brother’s dying wish and to reporter Sirin Kale about how you should approach conversations about the vaccine with hesitant loved ones.

• Note added 8 November 2021: It was stated incorrectly in this podcast that the majority of those dying of Covid-19 in the UK and the US had not been vaccinated. That was the case earlier in the year, when vaccination rates were lower, but was no longer the case at the time of broadcast. The subheading has been amended accordingly.