Man Who Declined COVID-19 Vaccine Undergoes Double Lung Transplant After Catching Virus

A Texas man who had previously declined to get a COVID-19 vaccine underwent a rare double lung transplant after contracting the novel coronavirus.

Joshua Garza, 43, was offered a chance to get vaccinated against SARS-COV-2 in January. However, he passed up the opportunity, believing he didn’t need it.

He was diagnosed with COVID-19 in the same month and was hospitalized on Feb. 2 after he fell extremely sick. Garza was later transferred to House Methodist, where he was put on an oxygen pump.

"COVID ended up attacking my lungs," Garza told ABC News. "It was quick, it was within three weeks, the lungs were already shot."

On April 13, Garza underwent a double lung transplant and was sent home on May 27 after two months on life support. The 43-year-old is now encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot.

"If I knew what I know now, I would have definitely went through with the vaccination," he said.

As of Thursday, thirteen states across the United States have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents. This includes Hawaii, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

At least fourteen states have also reached President Joe Biden’s goal to vaccinate 70% of their adult population with at least one shot of any COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, vaccine hesitancy has caused rollouts to slow down in several states. In the past week, six states said they were administering first doses at a quarter of the pace they recorded during their peak rate.

In Florida, a recent survey conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida found that, of the 600 people they polled, 35.3% said they were unlikely to get a vaccine shot. At least 24.3% said they were undecided over whether to get vaccinated.

At least 73% of the people who participated in the survey also said they heard misinformation and conspiracy theories about the vaccine, including that it contained a live strain of the virus and that a shot would inject you with 5G microchips.

The Biden administration is aiming to get at least 70% of all American adults across the nation vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4. It is unclear whether the administration expects to meet that goal.

White House senior adviser Jeff Zients also refused to answer whether he thinks the vaccination goal can be accomplished by Independence Day.

“I'll start by saying, you know, getting vaccinated is as important as it's ever been. Those who are vaccinated are protected. Those who are not protected. And the Delta variant just reminds us all that we need to not only get the first dose, but for those who only have one dose and they're on a two-dose regimen to complete their vaccination, as soon as possible,” Zients said. “We've made tremendous progress.”