Allen West, GOP candidate for governor, says he has pneumonia caused by COVID-19

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen West, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, tweeted Saturday that he may be admitted to the hospital after a chest X-ray showed he has pneumonia caused by the virus.

“There’s a concern about my oxygen saturation levels, which are at 89 and they should be at 95,” West tweeted, adding in a follow-up tweet, “My chest X-rays do show COVID pneumonia, not serious. I am probably going to be admitted to the hospital.”

Earlier in the day, West’s campaign tweeted that his wife, who is vaccinated against COVID-19, had tested positive for the virus Friday. In that tweet thread, the campaign said he was “experiencing a low grade fever and light body aches” and that he was canceling in-person events until he was in the clear. In the same thread, the campaign also said that West was taking hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said both drugs can cause serious health problems for people who take the drugs to attempt to treat COVID-19.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malaria drug that the FDA has said has “no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.” Ivermectin is a drug used to treat parasites in humans and animals; the FDA has said, “Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19.”

West tweeted that he and his wife both completed monoclonal antibody treatment and were “in the observation period.”

West’s campaign said in the tweets that he believes getting vaccinated against COVID-19 should be a personal choice.

On Thursday, West tweeted a photo from an event he attended for Mission Generation, an evangelical organization, in Seabrook, outside of Houston, describing it as “a packed house.” The two photos West shared depicted attendees without masks.

West represented Florida in Congress from 2011-13 before moving to Texas in 2014 to become the CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas think tank that shuttered three years later.

Last year, West was elected to be the state party chair, a position he resigned in June to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott in the Republican primary next year.