Even as the United States witnesses a dangerous surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant, there are still many vaccine-hesitant Americans, including Texans, who refuse to get inoculated. One of them was Scott Apley, a 45-year-old Houston-area Republican leader, who died after he was hospitalized with a COVID-19 infection.
Apley tested positive for COVID-19, was admitted to the hospital, and was on a ventilator for three days before his death. It’s worth noting that his wife also tested positive but was not admitted to the hospital.
Apley was also a precinct chair for the organization and State Republican Executive Committee, and a member of the Dickinson city council.
It is also worth mentioning that Apley was a voice who downplayed the threat and severity of COVID-19. It has been reported that in the weeks and months prior to his death, Apley had made a number of controversial social media posts downplaying the threat of the disease.
He also squarely refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19, arguing that the vaccines “don’t work”. He was also very critical of the idea of mandatory mask-wearing in Texas.
According to an article published by The Daily Beast, Apley had in May posted an invitation for a “mask burning” at a bar in Cincinnati. In the post, he had commented: “I wish I lived in the area!”
And just a couple of weeks ago, he had even described as “disgusting” the idea of giveaways and incentives for encouraging people to get vaccinated. He was also very vocal against the so-called vaccine passports that sought to restrict high-risk activities such as indoor dining for people who were not fully vaccinated.
This news assumes importance in the current period when scores of hospitals in Texas have run out of intensive care unit beds, according to The Texas Tribune, with COVID-19 surging faster than ever before.
