Neil Cavuto.Photo: Steven Ferdman/Getty

neil cavuto

Fox News' Neil Cavutois thanking the COVID-19 vaccine for keeping him alive after a second bout with the virus put him in the intensive care unit.

“I did get COVID again — but a far more serious strand, what doctors call COVID pneumonia. It landed me in intensive care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go,” he told viewers. “Some of you who’ve wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for! So, sorry to disappoint you!”

Cavuto explained that the vaccine did not make him sick, and that it’s his immune system that’s at fault.

“No, the vaccine didn’t cause this … my very compromised immune system did,” he said. “Because I’ve had cancer and now have multiple sclerosis, I’m among the vulnerable 3% of the population or so that simply cannot sustain the full benefits of a vaccine. In other words, it doesn’t last.”

The longtime Fox News anchor emphasized that without the vaccines, he likely would not have survived.

“Let me be clear, doctors say had I not been vaccinated at all, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “It provided some defense, but that is still better than no defense. Maybe not great comfort for some of you. I’ve got to be honest, frankly, it was not great comfort for me either! This was scary.”

And Cavuto, whopreviously said he got death threatswhen he pleaded with viewers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, said he’s “not here to debate vaccinations for you. Just offer an explanation for me. I figured I owed you that.”

Cavuto had spent most of 2020 broadcasting his show from home due to his high risk of severe illness if he were to get COVID-19. He made his return to Fox News headquarters for the presidential election night that November,telling PEOPLEthat the day was “too important to do otherwise.”

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But he and the rest of the staff took intense precautions, including testing, temperature checks and social distancing to get him through the day.

“I’m a little extra cautious about this than maybe a lot of people because I’m at target for all the stuff that could possibly make you vulnerable to COVID-19,” he told PEOPLE. “You just don’t know. I don’t get a cavalier or arrogant attitude with this.”

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source: people.com