Reprinted with permission from KFF Health News.
As bird flu spreads among dairy cattle in the U.S., veterinarians and researchers have taken note of Finlands move to vaccinate farmworkers at risk of infection. They wonder why their government doesnt do the same.
Farmworkers, veterinarians, and producers are handling large volumes of milk that can contain high levels of bird flu virus, said Kay Russo, a livestock and poultry veterinarian in Fort Collins, Colorado. If a vaccine seems to provide some immunity, I think it should be offered to them.
Among a dozen virology and outbreak experts interviewed by KFF Health News, most agree with Russo. They said people who work with dairy cows should be offered vaccination for a disease that has killed roughly half of the people known to have gotten it globally over the past two decades, has killed cats in the U.S. this year, and has pandemic potential.
However, some researchers sided with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recommending against vaccination for now. Theres no evidence that this years bird flu virus spreads between people or causes serious disease in humans. And its unclear how well the available vaccine would prevent either scenario.
But the wait-and-see approach is a gamble, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University. By the time we see severe outcomes, it means a lot of people have been infected.
Now is the time to offer the vaccines to farmworkers in the United States, said Nahid Bhadelia, director of the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Even more urgent measures are lagging in the U.S., she added. Testing of farmworkers and cows is sorely needed to detect the H5N1 bird flu virus, study it, and extinguish it before it becomes a fixture on farms posing an ever-present pandemic threat.
Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the agency takes bird flu seriously, and the U.S. is stockpiling 4.8 million doses of the vaccine. But, he said, theres no recommendation to launch a vaccine campaign.
Its all about risk-benefit ratios, Daskalakis said. The benefits are blurry because there hasnt been enough testing to understand how easily the virus jumps from cows into people, and how sick they become. Just four people in the United States have tested positive this year, with mild cases too few to draw conclusions.
Other farmworkers and veterinarians working on dairy farms with outbreaks have reported being sick, Russo said, but they havent been tested. Public health labs have tested only about 50 people for the bird flu since the outbreak was detected in March.
Still, Daskalakis said the CDC is not concerned that the agency is missing worrisome bird flu infections because of its influenza surveillance system. Hospitals report patients with severe cases of flu, and numbers are normal this year.
Another signal that puts the agency at ease is that the virus doesnt yet have mutations that allow it to spread rapidly between people as they sneeze and breathe. If we start to see changes in the virus, thats another factor that would be part of the decision to move from a planning phase into an operational one, Daskalakis said.
On July 8, researchers reported that the virus may be closer to spreading between people than previously thought. It still doesnt appear to do so, but experiments suggest it has the ability to infect human airways. It also spread between two laboratory ferrets through the air.
In considering vaccines, the agency takes a cue from a 1976 outbreak of the swine flu. Officials initially feared a repeat of the 1918 swine flu pandemic that killed roughly half a million people in the United States. So they rapidly vaccinated nearly 43 million people in the country within a year.
But swine flu cases turned out to be mild that year. This made the vaccine seem unnecessarily risky as several reports of a potentially deadly disorder, Guillain-Barr Syndrome, emerged. Roughly one of every million people who get influenza vaccines may acquire the disorder, according to the CDC. That risk is outweighed by the benefits of prevention. Since Oct. 1, as many as 830,000 people have been hospitalized for the seasonal flu and 25,000 to 75,000 people have died.
An after-action report on the 1976 swine flu situation called it a sobering, cautionary tale about responding prematurely to an uncertain public health threat. Its a story about what happens when you launch a vaccine program where you are accepting risk without any benefit, Daskalakis said.
Paul Offit, a virologist at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, sides with the CDC. Id wait for more data, he said.
However, other researchers say this isnt comparable to 1976 because they arent suggesting that the U.S. vaccinate tens of millions of people. Rather theyre talking about a voluntary vaccine for thousands of people in close contact with livestock. This lessens the chance of rare adverse effects.
The bird flu vaccine on hand, made by the flu vaccine company CSL Seqirus, was authorized last year by the European equivalent of the FDA. An older variety has FDA approval, but the newer variety hasnt gotten the green light yet.
Although the vaccine targets a different bird flu strain than the H5N1 virus now circulating in cows, studies show it triggers an immune response against both varieties. Its considered safe because it uses the same egg-based vaccine technology deployed every year in seasonal flu vaccines.
For these reasons, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and about a dozen other countries are stockpiling millions of doses. Finland expects to offer them to people who work on fur farms this month as a precaution because its mink and fox farms were hit by the bird flu last year.
In contrast, mRNA vaccines being developed against the bird flu would be a first for influenza. On July 2, the U.S. government announced that it would pay Moderna $176 million for their development, and that the vaccines may enter clinical trials next year. Used widely against covid-19, this newer technology uses mRNA to teach the immune system how to recognize particular viruses.
In the meantime, Florian Krammer, a flu virologist at Mount Sinais Icahn School of Medicine, said people who work on dairy farms should have the option to get the egg-based vaccine. It elicits an immune response against a primary component of the H5N1 bird flu virus that should confer a degree of protection against infection and serious sickness, he said.
Still, its protection wouldnt be 100%. And no one knows how many cases and hospitalizations it would prevent since it hasnt been used to combat this years virus. Such data should be collected in studies that track the outcomes of people who opt to get one, he said.
Krammer isnt assuaged by the lack of severe bird flu cases spotted in clinics. If you see a signal in hospitals, the cat is out of the bag. Game over, we have a pandemic, he said. Thats what we want to avoid.
He and others stressed that the United States should be doing everything it can to curb infections before flu season starts in October. The vaccine could provide an additional layer of protection on top of testing, wearing gloves, and goggles, and disinfecting milking equipment. Scientists worry that if people get the bird flu and the seasonal flu simultaneously, bird flu viruses could snag adaptations from seasonal viruses that allow them to spread swiftly among humans.
They also note it could take months to distribute the vaccines after theyre recommended since it requires outreach. People who work beside dairy cows still lack information on the virus, four months into this outbreak, said Bethany Boggess Alcauter, director of research at the National Center for Farmworker Health.
Health officials have talked with dairy farm owners, but Boggess interviews with farmworkers suggest those conversations havent trickled down to their staff. One farmworker in the Texas Panhandle told her he was directed to disinfect his hands and boots to protect cows from diseases that workers may carry. They never told us if the cow could infect us with some illness, the farmworker said in Spanish.
The slow pace of educational outreach is a reminder that everything takes time, including vaccine decisions. When deciding whether to recommend vaccines, the CDC typically seeks guidance from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or the ACIP. A consultant to the group, infectious disease researcher William Schaffner, has repeatedly asked the agency to present its thinking on Seqirus bird flu vaccine.
Rather than fret about the 1976 swine flu situation, Schaffner suggested the CDC consider the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic. It caused more than 274,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths in the U.S. within a year. By the time vaccines were rolled out, he said, much of the damage had been done.
The time to discuss this with ACIP is now, said Schaffner, before the bird flu becomes a public health emergency. We dont want to discuss this until the cows come home in the middle of a crisis.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Subscribe to KFF Health News free Morning Briefing.
The UK division of CSLS is Britains biggest end-to-end vaccine manufacturer by some margin. Its main business revolves around manufacturing the jabs which protect against seasonal flu, its products being used throughout the NHS and across Europe.
Its a tricky job, a primary skill being in matching the annual jab with the anticipated seasonal flu strain some six months ahead of its actual arrival. If youve seen one flu season, youve seen one flu season, says Mr Hilton, quoting an industry axiom.
The Liverpool plant makes all its vaccines in the old fashioned way - by growing the virus in fertilised chicken eggs before deactivating it for use in vaccines. The company has the capacity to take delivery of 575,000 eggs a day - enough to make 40 litres of a single strain of vaccine over an incubation period of 13-14 days.
The eggs are of a very different categorisation to those found in the supermarket. They come from 21 specialist bio-secure hatcheries in which the chickens and their eggs are kept protected from any bugs that could be passed on. They may not be free range but they are pathogen free, says Mr Hilton.
We spend a lot of time and effort to make sure we are ready to spring [into action] if there is a pandemic - just the strain of the virus needs to be plugged in.
As bird flu spreads among dairy cattle in the U.S., veterinarians and researchers have taken note of Finlands move to vaccinate farmworkers at risk of infection. They wonder why their government doesnt do the same.
Farmworkers, veterinarians, and producers are handling large volumes of milk that can contain high levels of bird flu virus, said Kay Russo, a livestock and poultry veterinarian in Fort Collins, Colorado. If a vaccine seems to provide some immunity, I think it should be offered to them.
Among a dozen virology and outbreak experts interviewed by KFF Health News, most agree with Russo. They said people who work with dairy cows should be offered vaccination for a disease that has killed roughly half of the people known to have gotten it globally over the past two decades, has killed cats in the U.S. this year, and has pandemic potential.
However, some researchers sided with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recommending against vaccination for now. Theres no evidence that this years bird flu virus spreads between people or causes serious disease in humans. And its unclear how well the available vaccine would prevent either scenario.
But the wait-and-see approach is a gamble, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University. By the time we see severe outcomes, it means a lot of people have been infected.
This unsustainable food system must be reformed before it is too late, one advocate said.
Now is the time to offer the vaccines to farmworkers in the United States, said Nahid Bhadelia, director of the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Even more urgent measures are lagging in the U.S., she added. Testing of farmworkers and cows is sorely needed to detect the H5N1 bird flu virus, study it, and extinguish it before it becomes a fixture on farms posing an ever-present pandemic threat.
Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the agency takes bird flu seriously, and the U.S. is stockpiling 4.8 million doses of the vaccine. But, he said, theres no recommendation to launch a vaccine campaign.
Its all about risk-benefit ratios, Daskalakis said. The benefits are blurry because there hasnt been enough testing to understand how easily the virus jumps from cows into people, and how sick they become. Just four people in the United States have tested positive this year, with mild cases too few to draw conclusions.
Other farmworkers and veterinarians working on dairy farms with outbreaks have reported being sick, Russo said, but they havent been tested. Public health labs have tested only about 50 people for the bird flu since the outbreak was detected in March.
Still, Daskalakis said the CDC is not concerned that the agency is missing worrisome bird flu infections because of its influenza surveillance system. Hospitals report patients with severe cases of flu, and numbers are normal this year.
Another signal that puts the agency at ease is that the virus doesnt yet have mutations that allow it to spread rapidly between people as they sneeze and breathe. If we start to see changes in the virus, thats another factor that would be part of the decision to move from a planning phase into an operational one, Daskalakis said.
On July 8, researchers reported that the virus may be closer to spreading between people than previously thought. It still doesnt appear to do so, but experiments suggest it has the ability to infect human airways. It also spread between two laboratory ferrets through the air.
In considering vaccines, the agency takes a cue from a 1976 outbreak of the swine flu. Officials initially feared a repeat of the 1918 swine flu pandemic that killed roughly half a million people in the United States. So they rapidly vaccinated nearly 43 million people in the country within a year.
But swine flu cases turned out to be mild that year. This made the vaccine seem unnecessarily risky as several reports of a potentially deadly disorder, Guillain-Barr Syndrome, emerged. Roughly one of every million people who get influenza vaccines may acquire the disorder, according to the CDC. That risk is outweighed by the benefits of prevention. Since Oct. 1, as many as 830,000 people have been hospitalized for the seasonal flu and 25,000 to 75,000 people have died.
An after-action report on the 1976 swine flu situation called it a sobering, cautionary tale about responding prematurely to an uncertain public health threat. Its a story about what happens when you launch a vaccine program where you are accepting risk without any benefit, Daskalakis said.
Paul Offit, a virologist at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, sides with the CDC. Id wait for more data, he said.
However, other researchers say this isnt comparable to 1976 because they arent suggesting that the U.S. vaccinate tens of millions of people. Rather theyre talking about a voluntary vaccine for thousands of people in close contact with livestock. This lessens the chance of rare adverse effects.
The bird flu vaccine on hand, made by the flu vaccine company CSL Seqirus, was authorized last year by the European equivalent of the FDA. An older variety has FDA approval, but the newer variety hasnt gotten the green light yet.
Although the vaccine targets a different bird flu strain than the H5N1 virus now circulating in cows, studies show it triggers an immune response against both varieties. Its considered safe because it uses the same egg-based vaccine technology deployed every year in seasonal flu vaccines.
For these reasons, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and about a dozen other countries are stockpiling millions of doses. Finland expects to offer them to people who work on fur farms this month as a precaution because its mink and fox farms were hit by the bird flu last year.
In contrast, mRNA vaccines being developed against the bird flu would be a first for influenza. On July 2, the U.S. government announced that it would pay Moderna $176 million for their development, and that the vaccines may enter clinical trials next year. Used widely against COVID-19, this newer technology uses mRNA to teach the immune system how to recognize particular viruses.
In the meantime, Florian Krammer, a flu virologist at Mount Sinais Icahn School of Medicine, said people who work on dairy farms should have the option to get the egg-based vaccine. It elicits an immune response against a primary component of the H5N1 bird flu virus that should confer a degree of protection against infection and serious sickness, he said.
Still, its protection wouldnt be 100%. And no one knows how many cases and hospitalizations it would prevent since it hasnt been used to combat this years virus. Such data should be collected in studies that track the outcomes of people who opt to get one, he said.
Krammer isnt assuaged by the lack of severe bird flu cases spotted in clinics. If you see a signal in hospitals, the cat is out of the bag. Game over, we have a pandemic, he said. Thats what we want to avoid.
He and others stressed that the United States should be doing everything it can to curb infections before flu season starts in October. The vaccine could provide an additional layer of protection on top of testing, wearing gloves, and goggles, and disinfecting milking equipment. Scientists worry that if people get the bird flu and the seasonal flu simultaneously, bird flu viruses could snag adaptations from seasonal viruses that allow them to spread swiftly among humans.
They also note it could take months to distribute the vaccines after theyre recommended since it requires outreach. People who work beside dairy cows still lack information on the virus, four months into this outbreak, said Bethany Boggess Alcauter, director of research at the National Center for Farmworker Health.
Health officials have talked with dairy farm owners, but Boggess interviews with farmworkers suggest those conversations havent trickled down to their staff. One farmworker in the Texas Panhandle told her he was directed to disinfect his hands and boots to protect cows from diseases that workers may carry. They never told us if the cow could infect us with some illness, the farmworker said in Spanish.
The slow pace of educational outreach is a reminder that everything takes time, including vaccine decisions. When deciding whether to recommend vaccines, the CDC typically seeks guidance from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or the ACIP. A consultant to the group, infectious disease researcher William Schaffner, has repeatedly asked the agency to present its thinking on Seqirus bird flu vaccine.
Rather than fret about the 1976 swine flu situation, Schaffner suggested the CDC consider the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic. It caused more than 274,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths in the U.S. within a year. By the time vaccines were rolled out, he said, much of the damage had been done.
The time to discuss this with ACIP is now, said Schaffner, before the bird flu becomes a public health emergency. We dont want to discuss this until the cows come home in the middle of a crisis.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
Truthout has launched a necessary fundraising campaign to support our work. Can you support us right now?
Each day, our team is reporting deeply on complex political issues: revealing wrongdoing in our so-called justice system, tracking global attacks on human rights, unmasking the money behind right-wing movements, and more. Your tax-deductible donation at this time is critical, allowing us to do this core journalistic work.
As we face increasing political scrutiny and censorship for our reporting, Truthout relies heavily on individual donations at this time. Please give today if you can.
Visit the News Hub
Drop attributed mostly to vaccination but remaining risk still significant
The risk of long COVID has declined over the course of the pandemic, although it remains a persistent threat. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified vaccination as a primary factor in reducing the risk of long COVID.
The risk of developing long COVID has decreased significantly over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis of data led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Researchers attributed about 70% of the risk reduction to vaccination against COVID-19 and 30% to changes over time, including the SARS-CoV-2 viruss evolving characteristics and improved detection and management of COVID-19.
The research is published July 17 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The research on declining rates of long COVID marks the rare occasion when I have good news to report regarding this virus, said the studys senior author, Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, a Washington University clinical epidemiologist and global leader in COVID-19 research. The findings also show the positive effects of getting vaccinated.
Long COVID encompasses the lingering and debilitating effects on health experienced by about 10% of people who have been infected with COVID-19. To date, the World Health Organization has documented more than 775 million cases of COVID-19.
In more than 30 high-profile studies, Al-Aly has detailed the viruss indiscriminate, long-term health impacts across nearly all organ systems affecting the heart, brain, kidneys and gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Although his latest findings sound more reassuring than previous studies, Al-Aly tempered the good news. Long COVID is not over, said the nephrologist, who treats patients at Washington University-affiliated John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital in St. Louis. We cannot let our guard down. This includes getting annual COVID vaccinations, because they are the key to suppressing long COVID risk. If we abandon vaccinations, the risk is likely to increase.
Since the pandemics beginning, Al-Aly has dedicated himself to analyzing long COVID with the aim of helping the public make informed health choices; supporting scientists in generating research-backed recommendations on prevention and treatment; and enabling politicians to make educated decisions regarding funding and public policies. Al-Alys latest study builds on this body of work by examining the viruss variants and overall evolution.
To do this, Al-Aly and his team analyzed millions of de-identified medical records in a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the nations largest integrated health-care system. The study included 441,583 veterans with SARS-CoV-2 infections and more than 4.7 million uninfected veterans, from March 1, 2020, through Jan. 31, 2022.
Patients included people of diverse ages, races and sexes; statistical modeling ensured parity in representation.
The researchers divided the veterans into five groups: unvaccinated COVID-19 sufferers who acquired the original strain in 2020; the delta variant in 2021; and the omicron variant in 2022. The other two groups included vaccinated people who had the delta variant, and vaccinated people with omicron. No vaccines existed while the original strain circulated.
The team estimated rates of long COVID one-year postinfection for each of the five groups.
Unsurprisingly, the rate of long COVID was the highest among those with the original strain, Al-Aly said, with 10.4% of those who had infections that developed into long COVID.
That declined to 9.5% among those in the unvaccinated groups during the delta era and 7.7% during omicron.
Among the vaccinated, the rate of long COVID during delta was 5.3% and 3.5% during omicron.
You can see a clear and significant difference in risk during the delta and omicron eras between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, said Al-Aly, who is also director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and head of the research and development service. So, if people think COVID is no big deal and decide to forgo vaccinations, theyre essentially doubling their risk of developing long COVID.
Al-Aly also emphasized that even with the overall decline, the lowest rate 3.5% remains a substantial risk. Thats three to four vaccinated individuals out of 100 getting long COVID, he said. Multiplied by the large numbers of people who continue to get infected and reinfected, its a lot of people. This remaining risk is not trivial. It will continue to add an already staggering health problem facing people across the world.
Since the pandemics beginning, Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has dedicated himself to analyzing long COVID with the aim of helping the public make informed health choices and educating scientists and policymakers on prevention and treatment. Al-Alys latest study in The New England Journal of Medicine builds on his research by examining the viruss variants and overall evolution.
Another notable finding offers clues to the viruss evolution, Al-Aly added. While analyzing the risk among all people infected with COVID-19 during the omicron era of 2022, the likelihood of heart, brain, kidney and lung problems declined. In contrast, diseases and illnesses associated with metabolic function and the GI system increased.
People tend to think of SARS-CoV-2 as a homogeneous virus, Al-Aly said. But each variant has its own fingerprint. The original virus hit the respiratory system hard. Omicron targeted metabolic and GI issues. Its important because while the risk of long COVID is quantitatively lower, a person can be at a higher risk of developing an illness based on the part of the body that the COVID variant targets.
Its really good news that the risk has declined, he said. But we know millions of people already have long COVID, and millions more will continue to get long COVID. We need to double down on our efforts to understand it so we can prevent suffering and treat affected individuals.
Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z. Post-acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 in the Predelta, Delta and Omicron eras. The New England Journal of Medicine. July 17, 2024. DOI: www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2403211
This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
About Washington University School of Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 56% in the last seven years. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.
President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday while in Las Vegas for a series of events, the White House said.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden tested positive following his first event in Las Vegas.
He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms, Jean-Pierre said. He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the Presidents status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.
Biden was already scheduled to head to Delaware after his trip to Las Vegas.
Biden was tested after experiencing upper respiratory symptoms, according to a statement by Bidens doctor released by the White House. Dr. Kevin OConnor is the presidents physician, though the White House did not attribute the statement to him by name.
The presidents symptoms included a runny nose, nonproductive cough and general malaise, the statement said.
His doctor said that he has already taken his first dose of Paxlovid, a medication that is associated with reducing the chance of hospitalization or death.
Biden does not have a fever, and his respiratory rate is normal, according to the presidents doctor.
When Biden later arrived at the Las Vegas-area airport, the president responded to a question about how he was feeling by saying, Good, I feel good.
Biden, 81, has kept a full schedule in Nevada this week, following questions about his health and capabilities after a dismal debate performance in late June.
Both Biden and former President Donald Trump, 78, have had Covid. Biden last tested positive in 2022.
News of his Covid test was first announced at the conference where the president was scheduled to speak Wednesday.
Regrettably, I was just on the phone with President Biden and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many events, as we all know, and he just tested positive for Covid," said Janet Murguia, president of UnidosUS, which bills itself as the largest Latino advocacy organization in U.S.
Biden had been expected to deliver remarks at the group's event in Las Vegas and had been about an hour and a half late before the announcement was made.
Biden said in an interview with BET on Tuesday that he would drop out of the presidential race if he developed a medical condition that prevented him from running.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in March that people who test positive for Covid no longer need to isolate for five days.
The CDC's latest guidance recommends that people who test positive stay home and away from others, noting that people can resume normal activity after symptoms are improving and there is no fever without "fever-reducing medication" for at least 24 hours.
After resuming regular activities, the CDC encourages people to still wear a mask and maintain distance from others for five days.
Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.
Mike Memoli is an NBC News correspondent.
Tara Prindiville and Rebecca Shabad contributed.
indystar.com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.
Unfortunately, your browser is not supported. Please download one of these browsers for the best experience on indystar.com
President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of a planned campaign appearance atthe UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas.
"He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms," White House press secretaryKarine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time."
According to Biden's physician,Dr. Kevin OConnor, Biden "presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms," including a runny nose, "non-productive cough" and "general malaise."
"He felt okay for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for COVID-19 was conducted, and the results were positive for the COVID-19 virus,"Dr. OConnor continued, adding that Biden's temperature is a normal 97.8 degrees and his blood oxygen level was 97%. He was given his first dose of Paxlovid, Pfizer's antiviral COVID-19 treatment, on Wednesday.
Biden's planned address at the UnidosUS gathering was part of an effort to counterprogram the Republican National Convention, which is taking place in Milwaukee, and working to shore up support among Hispanic voters in a battleground state that helped deliver him the White House in 2020.
UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murgua broke the news to the crowd ahead of the White House's confirmation.
"I was just on the phone with President Biden, and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon," she said. "The president has been at many events as we all know and he just tested positive for COVID."
Earlier Wednesday, Biden visited Linda Michoacan Mexican Restaurant in Las Vegas, where he mingled with patrons and sat for an interview withUnivisions Luis Sandoval.
Biden first tested positive for COVID-19 in 2022. Days later, he experienced a rebound case of the coronavirus.
LAS VEGAS
President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing mild symptoms from the infection, the White House said.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The news had first been shared by Unidos US President and CEO Janet Murgua, who told guests at the groups convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Kevin OConnor, the presidents physician, said in a note that Biden presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise. After the positive COVID-19 test, Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, OConnor said.
Biden was slated to speak at the Unidos event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election.
Biden gingerly boarded Air Force One and told reporters traveling with him, I feel good. The president was not wearing a mask as he walked onto Air Force One.
The president had previously been at the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was greeting diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Univision.
Biden has been vaccinated and is current on his recommended annual booster dose for COVID-19. The vaccines have proven highly effective at limiting serious illness and death from the virus, which killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. since the pandemic began in 2020. Paxlovid has been proven to curtail the chances of serious illness and death from COVID-19 when prescribed in the early days of an infection, but has also been associated with rebound infections, where the virus comes back a few days after clearing up.
Biden last tested positive for COVID-19 twice in the summer of 2022, when he had a primary case and a rebound case of the virus.
Health officials have reported recent upticks in emergency room visits and hospitalizations from COVID-19. There has also been a pronounced increase in positive test results in much of the country particularly the southwestern U.S.
Madhani writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Josh Boak, Stephanie Nano and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
President Biden walks on stage before speaking at the 115th NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, July 16, 2024.
President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, marking the third time in the past two years the president has tested positive for the virus.
The White House on Wednesday said Biden was experiencing mild symptoms and would return to Delaware to self-isolate and carry out all of his duties fully during that time. He received his first dose of Paxlovid, an antiviral therapy produced by Pfizer.
Earlier in the afternoon, Biden experienced upper respiratory symptoms, including a runny nose and nonproductive cough, his doctor said in a statement.
He felt OK for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for COVID-19 was conducted, and the results were positive for the COVID-19 virus, the doctor added. The White House noted Biden is vaccinated and boosted.
Biden, 81, first tested positive for COVID in July 2022, after which he isolated at the White House and began taking Paxlovid.
After completing a five-day course of the antiviral medication and experiencing only mild symptoms, Biden emerged from isolation just to test positive with a rebound case of COVID-19, which lasted one week until Aug. 15.
Biden on Wednesday was slated to speak at a conference in Las Vegas, but UnidosUS PresidentJanet Murguaannounced on stage the president tested positive and would no longer be speaking.
Bidens doctor said PCR confirmation testing is pending. His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97 percent, the doctor said.
Biden was seen boarding Air Force One, not wearing a mask, and told reporters he feels good.
He was set to speak at a UnidosUS conference Wednesday.
July 17, 2024, 7:35 PM ET
6 min read
President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, according to the White House.
UnidosUS CEO Janet Murgua had also announced the diagnosis from the podium where the president was set to speak at the organization's conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Biden, 81, tested positive for COVID-19 earlier Wednesday, following his first event in Las Vegas, according to the White House.
"He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms," the White House said in a statement. "He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time."
The White House said it will provide regular updates on the president's status "as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation."
The White House also shared a note from Biden's doctor, who said the president had upper respiratory symptoms -- including a running nose and cough -- and "general malaise" Wednesday afternoon.
"He felt OK for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for COVID-19 was conducted, and the results were positive for the COVID-19 virus," his doctor said, according to the White House.
Biden has received his first dose of Paxlovid, according to his doctor, who noted that the president's respiratory rate, temperature and pulse oximetry are normal.
The president gave a thumbs-up to reporters as he prepared to depart Las Vegas when asked how he was feeling and responded, "Good. I feel good," according to the pool.
He was seen maskless boarding Air Force One in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon to head to Rehoboth, Delaware.
Biden also shared his COVID-19 diagnosis on X later Wednesday night, writing, "I am feeling good and thank everyone for the well wishes."
"I will be isolating as I recover, and during this time I will continue to work to get the job done for the American people," he said.
Biden previously tested positive for COVID-19 in 2022 and took Paxlovid then, the White House said at the time.
The president was slated to deliver remarks Wednesday afternoon at the annual conference for UnidosUS, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, when Murgua announced from the stage that he would no longer be able to appear.
"Regrettably, I was just on the phone with President Biden and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon," Murgua told the crowd. "The president has been at many events as we all know, and he just tested positive for COVID. So, of course, we understand that he needs to take the precautions that have been recommended, and he did not obviously want to put anybody at risk."
"He said to tell my folks that you're not going to get rid of him that quickly," Murgua continued. "We're going to have a chance to hear from him in the future directly. He's just really sorry he couldn't be with us."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
