Florida COVID patient admits falling for 'foolish' anti-vax lies: 'If I wasn’t stupid, I wouldn’t be in this predicament'

A man who has been hospitalized for the last three weeks after being infected with the novel coronavirus admits that he got taken in by anti-vaccination propaganda -- and he's now full of regret.

NBC News reports that 67-year-old Lawrence Jones, who has spent the past 22 days at UF Health Jacksonville after coming down with COVID-19, has been using his time to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

"Every day I get on the phone: 'Please do not play. Get the vaccination,'" he told the network. "If I wasn't stupid, I wouldn't be in this predicament. Don't listen to foolishness. Go get vaccinated."

Jones's story is part of a broader report on the surge of COVID hospitalizations in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to place any restrictions on the economy despite record-breaking cases.

Dr. Dean Watson, a vice president at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, tells NBC News that he's growing frustrated at having so many COVID patients who declined to get vaccinated despite having the opportunity to do so.

"We're taking care of patients who, if they had made the right choice and gotten the vaccine, would not be in the hospital," he said. "You're battling through sadness, but you're also battling through a little anger, too."