Fully vaccinated and double boosted, President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid, the White House announced this morning. The 79-year-old Biden is experiencing “very mild symptoms” and will be isolating and working remotely until he “tests negative.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that the president “continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation,” which is underlined twice in her announcement.
The president, as “productive” as he remains (per the spirit of the announcement), may not be seen publicly for quite some time, Jean-Pierre hinted. Since the White House protocol for positive Covid cases goes “above and beyond CDC guidance,” the president “will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative,” she said. According to the CDC isolation guidelines for both suspected and confirmed Covid cases, people should isolate for at least five full days (day 0 is the first day of symptoms or of the positive viral test). The CDC says that applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, regardless of the scope of their symptoms.
The press secretary added that Biden has already “been in contact with members of the White House staff by phone,” and “will participate in his planned meetings at the White House this morning via phone and Zoom from the residence.”
Jean-Pierre also promised that “out of an abundance of transparency, the White House will provide a daily update on the President’s status.” Most likely, those “transparent” messages will be all optimistic and praiseful of the Covid vaccine that presumably protected the frail Biden from the most severe Covid outcomes.
The White House shared a memorandum from the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, that said Biden is experiencing a runny nose, fatigue, and an “occasional dry cough” that began on Wednesday evening.
It is not clear how the president, who has not been exactly energetic during the past couple of decades, can “fully” carry out the duties of office while experiencing Covid-related fatigue.
The president has started taking Paxlovid, an oral antiviral pill manufactured by Pfizer and administered in the United States under emergency use authorization (EUA) since December 2021.
Dr. O’Connor said that because Biden is fully vaccinated and twice boosted, he expects the president to “respond favorably” to Paxlovid, “as most maximally protected patients do.”
Biden had gotten two doses of the Pfizer shot shortly before taking office in January 2021, a first booster in September 2021, and a second one on March 30, 2022, immediately after the FDA and CDC released their ambiguous approval and recommendation for those over the age of 50 to receive a fourth, and, in some cases, fifth dose of the Covid shot.
The news came hours before Biden was scheduled to go to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to speak about “gun violence prevention” and attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.
Biden returned to Washington, D.C., from a four-day trip to the Middle East over the weekend, and visited Massachusetts on Wednesday to give a climate hysteria-focused speech.
The president’s schedule has been quite busy in recent weeks, as he has been hosting large gatherings and interacting with whatever supporters he still has.
Per media reports, First Lady Jill Biden, “up to date” with her Covid shots, announced that she had tested negative. Doctor Jill is currently in Detroit as part of a “summer learning tour” with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Of her husband, she said, “He’s doing fine, he’s feeling good.” She added that she would proceed with her schedule, but would remain masked while around others, consistent with CDC guidance.
Biden joins a growing number of D.C. insiders who have contracted the virus, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who tested positive in April. Prior waves of Covid swept through heavily-vaccinated Washington’s political class, infecting Cabinet members, White House staffers, and lawmakers, as reported by The New American. The majority of them expressed gratitude for being vaccinated, which they believed helped to prevent severe disease outcomes.
The most recent high-profile Covid cases include Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical advisor, who tested positive in mid-June, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, who was unlucky enough to catch Covid twice in just one month. Both of the officials are fully vaccinated and boosted.
Notably, Fauci had also been prescribed Paxlovid, but experienced Covid rebound on his fourth day after finishing up the course. He then began a second course of Paxlovid when symptoms returned, which were “much worse than the first go-around,” he said during Foreign Policy’s Global Health Forum event held in late June.
Covid infections and reinfections in fully vaccinated and boosted individuals hardly surprise anyone anymore, even though in July 2021 President Biden stated during a CNN Town Hall that those who got the shot are immune from getting Covid.
The full quote from the president:
One last thing that’s really important is, we’re not in the position where we think that any virus, including the Delta virus, which is much more transmissible and more deadly in terms of unvaccinated people, the — the various shots that people are getting now cover that. You’re OK. You’re not going to — you’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.
On July 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contradicted the president’s words in a statement that the viral load vaccinated and unvaccinated people carry when infected is “similar.” The vaccination was still recommended to everyone, though, since it was said to reduce the risk of severe Covid complications.
Since then, official healthcare advice for Americans has mutated into nearly universal recommendations to get vaccinated and then boosted, boosted, and boosted again. Test often. And wear a mask. As Dr. Fauci said during one of his most recent appearances, those are “doable, simple things.” Fauci argued that all of it is needed because the new Covid strains “substantially evade” both natural and vaccine-induced immunity.
