Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West hospitalized with COVID-19

(Image credit: Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

published 11 October 2021

Allen West, the former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas and a GOP candidate in the state's gubernatorial race, was hospitalized over the weekend with COVID-19.

West and his wife, Angela, tested positive for the virus after attending a "packed house" fundraising event last week in Seabrook, Texas, he told The Associated Press. West said that all in-person campaign events are paused until he receives "an all-clear indication," but for now he is "doing great" after receiving monoclonal antibody treatments. "No complaints," he added. "I'm just relaxing."

While his wife is vaccinated, West said he is not, and in a long Twitter thread on Sunday, he announced that if elected governor, he plans to "vehemently crush anyone forcing vaccine mandates" in Texas. His illness has made him "even more dedicated to fighting against vaccine mandates," he said, and he believes that "instead of enriching the pockets of Big Pharma and corrupt bureaucrats and politicians, we should be advocating the monoclonal antibody infusion therapy."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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