U.S. President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and is isolating in the White House with mild symptoms. He contracted the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which is currently the most dominant strain of the virus in the U.S., a letter from the White House physician said on Saturday.
According to his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the fully vaccinated and twice-boosted 79-year-old president has been taking Paxlovid since the day he tested positive. He has responded favorably to the Pfizer anti-viral medication.
The White House physician reiterated that President Biden will continue to isolate in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations until he tests negative and is continuing to work remotely and carrying out all of his duties fully during that time.”
As Good Day BIO reported, on Monday, July 25, he is scheduled to deliver virtual remarks to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Conference.
Evidence shows COVID-19 vaccines, boosters reduce risk of serious illness
So far, it looks like President Biden’s case is high-profile evidence that COVID-19 vaccines and boosters drastically reduce the odds of serious illness, considering he’s in a high-risk age group being 79.
“As I stated previously, the President is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, so I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do,” Dr. O’Connor said in his letter on Friday.
After receiving his Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in December 2020/January 2021, President Biden got his first Pfizer booster in September 2021 and his second booster in March 2022.
However, as a recent study showed, BA.5 is four times as resistant to vaccines as previous strains and is responsible for 75%-80% of infections in the U.S.
When tested, President Biden was reportedly experiencing only mild symptoms, mostly rhinorrhea (runny nose) and fatigue, with an occasional dry cough. The symptoms “have diminished considerably” and he’s now only dealing with a sore throat, which “is most likely a result of lymphoid activation as his body clears the virus and is thus encouraging.”
“Because the President is fully vaccinated, double boosted, his risk of serious illness is dramatically lower. He’s also getting treated with a very powerful antiviral and that further reduces his risk of serious illness,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, at Thursday’s briefing.
As we previously reported citing Pfizer’s clinical trial results, “Paxlovid cuts the risk of hospitalization or death by 88% in non-hospitalized, high-risk adult patients that were taking the treatment for five days shortly after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.”
