White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has tested positive for covid-19, according to a statement released on her official Twitter account Sunday night. Psaki is vaccinated against the coronavirus and is reportedly only experiencing mild symptoms.
President Joe Biden is currently in Europe for the G20 meeting in Rome and the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow. Psaki did not travel to Europe for the events and was self-isolating because unnamed members of her family tested positive for the disease. Psaki is married to Gregory Mecher, a Democratic advisor to various congressmen over the years, and they have two children together under the age of five.
“While I have not had close contact in person with the president or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday—and tested negative for four days after that last contact—I am disclosing today’s positive test out of an abundance of transparency,” Psaki said in her statement.
“I last saw the president on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six feet apart, and wore masks,” Psaki continued.
Psaki repeatedly tested negative after she learned of her family member’s illness and didn’t return a positive test until four days after her family member tested positive, which shouldn’t be necessarily surprising. The incubation period of the coronavirus is anywhere from 2 to 14 days, meaning that you can become infected and not test positive for up to two weeks after your exposure.
“I will plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of the ten day quarantine following a negative rapid antigen test, which is an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance, taken out of an abundance of caution,” Psaki tweeted.
President Biden received his first and second doses of covid-19 vaccine in December 2020 and January 2021. Biden also received a booster shot this past September.
The covid-19 vaccines are tremendously effective at preventing serious illness and death, but so-called breakthrough cases still occur. However, anti-vaccine advocates have already jumped onto social media to question how someone close to the president could acquire covid-19 if they were vaccinated.
As just one example, Travis Tritt, a country music singer and guest of white supremacist Fox News host Tucker Carlson, tweeted skepticism about the covid-19 vaccines.
“Jon Bon Jovi and Jen Psaki are just the latest ‘fully vaccinated’ to come down with full blown Covid. How much more do we need to see before serious questions are asked of our government and the CDC?” Tritt tweeted late Sunday.
The answer, of course, is that no vaccine is 100% effective, but it’s still much better than having no vaccine at all. The Pfizer vaccine was shown to be 75% to 91% effective at preventing infection, depending on how long ago you got your shot. Pfizer’s vaccine has seen waning immunity over time, meaning that you should get your booster shot when you’re able. And even though the vaccines aren’t perfect, they’re still your best shot at staying out of the hospital.
The overwhelming number of people who require hospitalization after getting covid-19 are the unvaccinated. It’s not a conspiracy against the unvaccinated. It’s simply how vaccines work. Get vaccinated and you have a much lower chance of getting covid-19. But even if you get the disease, you’ll almost certainly survive. Just get the jab. You really won’t regret it.