Her Son Died Of COVID. At His Funeral, She Offered Vaccines

BATON ROUGE, LA — Described as a bright and brilliant young man, 46-year-old Brandon Haynes couldn’t be convinced to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite his long history of health issues, Haynes didn’t trust what he believed to be a lack of data surrounding the vaccine, his mother, Betty Antoine, told The Louisiana Advocate. He told his friends not to get the vaccine as well.

Still unvaccinated, Haynes died of COVID-19 complications on June 9.

"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.

Haynes died six days ater he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Standing by his bedside, Antoine told CBS News she felt a renewed sense of purpose.

Still hurting from her loss, Antoine decided to offer COVID-19 vaccinations at her son’s funeral.

With the help of a friend who administered vaccines at a hospital in Baton Rouge, three people were vaccinated at Haynes’ celebration of life, CNN reported. Ten others called Antoine after the service to let her know they received their vaccines elsewhere.

Antoine told CNN that her son had a “large influence” over his friends.

"So when he was against the vaccine, they all did not take the vaccine,” Antoine told CNN. "So they're going now. They're going to take the vaccine, because Brandon died from the virus.”

Two vaccines administered at the service went to Haynes’ longtime friend, Marlon Coates Sr., and Coates’ fiancee, Jackie Mayhew, according to The Advocate. Both had been hesitant to get the vaccine, mostly due to Haynes’ reservations.

“Brandon researched things like that. Brandon was a genius,” Mayhew told The Advocate. “You kind of tend to listen to the people who you know are super smart.”

Losing Haynes changed everything, the couple told the newspaper.

“Once we lost him, I had to get it,” Coates told The Advocate.

The vaccination rate in Louisiana still remains one of the lowest in the country, according to a database compiled by The New York Times. Only 36.6 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, while 41.2 percent have received at least one dose.

Over the last seven days, the state has averaged nearly 3,000 new coronavirus cases per day.

"I just want people to know it can happen to you. I never thought that it would never happen to me, but it can happen to you,” Antoine told CNN. “And once you lose a loved one, for a reason that he could have been saved. It really hurts.”