Louisiana mother holds vaccine drive at funeral for son who died of COVID-19

Louisiana mother holds vaccine drive at funeral for son who died of COVID-19
Louisiana mother holds vaccine drive at funeral for son who died of COVID-19

Brandon Antoine (pictured), 46, died of COVID-19 despite his mothers urges for him to get vaccinated

Brandon Antoine (pictured), 46, died of COVID-19 despite his mothers urges for him to get vaccinated

A Louisiana mother held a vaccine drive at the funeral of her son who died of COVID-19 after refusing to get vaccinated.

Brandon Antoine passed away from the virus aged 46 in Baton Rouge on June 9. 

His mother, Betty Antoine, begged him to get the vaccine before he contracted the virus, though he refused.

Now she is hoping other families do not go through the same tragedy, and used her son's funeral as an opportunity to get others in her community vaccinated.

'I begged him, I said, 'You need to take the vaccine, Brandon.' 'Oh, no, mom, I'm not going to take it. And you better not take the vaccine either,'' Antoine told CBS News

'His doctor wanted him to take the vaccine. He told her no,' she continued. 

She said her son had underlying heart and lung issues that gave him an increased risk of complications from the virus.

'First of all, I was so full with... I want to say angry. I was kind of angry, not so much at him, but because he did not take the vaccine,' she said. 

'And I said, right then I'm going to ask his friends and everybody to take that vaccine in honor of him.' 

She gave attendees at Brandon's funeral the opportunity to get vaccinated, hoping that others could learn from her son's mistake.

Betty Antoine (pictured), urged her son, Brandon, to get vaccinated before he died of the virus

Betty Antoine (pictured), urged her son, Brandon, to get vaccinated before he eventually died from the virus

Of the attendees, 13 decided to get vaccinated.

'I just wanted them to see Brandon's ashes. I wanted them to know, look, Brandon is dead because he did not take the vaccine,' she continued.

Louisiana is among the states with the lowest vaccination rates in the country, and is currently dealing with a massive COVID-19 surge.

Only 40 percent of residents of the state have received at

read more from dailymail.....

NEXT Health service initiative offers patients a chance to see a GP on the same day ... trends now