'To Those Who Think COVID Is A Hoax, You're Crazy': Denver Radio Host Steffan Tubbs Recovering After Being Hospitalized

DENVER (CBS4) - Herd immunity to stop COVID-19 seems like wishful thinking in the U.S. right now. Instead, what is taking place is what some are calling "de-herding." The number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise at an alarming rate despite the availability of the vaccine.

Steffan Tubbs is a KNUS radio talk show host in Denver who can speak about COVID-19 firsthand.

"I was not vaccinated," he told CBS4's Rick Sallinger. Tubbs was treated for COVID at Parker Adventist Hospital for a week. In total, he was away from work for 51 days.

He described the unpleasant memories of being sick.

"Hallucinations early on, the COVID fog, the brain fog. Everything we had all heard was absolutely true. (I'd) never been sicker," the talk show host said.

He may look well now, but still has that fog and lacks full taste and smell. Despite what he has been through, he will not tell others to get vaccinated.

"That is absolutely a personal decision between you and your doctor, you and your family," Tubbs said.

The numbers of people getting vaccinated now in the U.S. is not encouraging to experts like Dr. Richard Zane at UCHealth.

"When one decides to be vaccinated, we are taking into consideration your own health, but we are also taking into consideration the health of your neighbors, the state, country the globe," he said.

He explains unless we reach herd immunity, the door is open for even more dangerous variants to emerge.

"We are going to begin to undo all the good we have done as we allow more variants to propagate."

He says with new variants coming there may be some that testing will not detect, medicines will not treat and vaccinations will not provide protection against.

How bad did it get for Tubbs?

Sallinger asked, "Did you at some point think you might not make it through it?"

The talk show host was, for a moment, without words. He then responded, "There were a couple days I thought 'Am I dying?' To those who think COVID is a hoax, you're crazy.'"