Missouri lawmaker’s unvaccinated husband dies from Covid
Republican running for congressional seat expresses sadness after refusing doses
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A Missouri state lawmaker who has refused to be vaccinated against Covid confirmed that her husband has died from the virus.
Sara Walsh, who represents the county of Ashland in the Missouri state legislature, said in a statement on Thursday that her husband Steve Walsh had died of Covid.
“It saddens my heart to share that this morning my best friend and beloved husband Steve Walsh was welcomed to Heaven’s glory into the arms of Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior,” said Ms Walsh in a tweet.
“Arrangements pending. Thank you to everyone who has lifted us up in prayer”.
It follows reports of the 42-year-old Republican refusing to be vaccinated against Covid because she feared the shots – in spite of of evidence issued by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reassuring Americans that the vaccines are safe.
In a tweet on 4 August confirming that both she and her husband had become infected with Covid, Ms Walsh said he was “very sick and is in the hospital”. He was thought to have been on a ventilator, and was not vaccinated against Covid.
As KRCG News reported, Ms Walsh also cited US Food Drug Administration (FDA) emergency approval of the vaccines for Covid as a reason for not being vaccinated, and that she would not consider a vaccine until it was fully approved. The FDA is expected to offer full approval for the vaccines within the next month.
She is also an anti-abortionist, and a member of the Ashland Baptist Church in Missouri.
Ms Walsh announced last month that she was running to replace congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, after the Republican announced her retirement from Congress.
Missouri has been among the worst hit by a summer wave of Covid infections, with Missouri reporting around 2,600 Covid infections a day, and 25 deaths, on average – according to analysis by The New York Times.
The number of fully vaccinated adults is 43 per cent.
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