COVID-19 patients on ventilators at a hospital in the Ozarks say they should have taken the virus more seriously and gotten vaccinated

• Patients at a hospital in Mountain Home, Arkansas, spoke to the New York Times about not getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
• The patients voiced regret in not being vaccinated.
• One man, who said he opted not to get the vaccine because of personal freedoms, died after being interviewed.

COVID-19 patients on ventilators hospitalized in the Ozark Mountains have voiced regret about not getting vaccinated against the virus.

In a video published on The New York Times over the weekend, patients at a hospital in Mountain Home, Arkansas, spoke of their experience with COVID-19 and their decision not to get vaccinated.

Christopher Green, 53, told The Times that he opted not to get vaccinated to protect his individual freedoms.

"I probably should have had a little healthier fear," he said. "It needs to be taken more seriously. I mean, I don't know how close I am to being a lot worse."

Green died nine days after he was interviewed by The Times.

Another woman, who was not identified, said she was upset at herself for not getting vaccinated.

"I've never hurt like I've hurt," she said. "It's made a believer out of me."

Mountain Home's Baxter County has a vaccination rate of 37%, compared to the nation's 51.5% of people being fully vaccinated, according to The Times.