Two senators, who are both vaccinated and boosted, have reported testing positive for COVID-19 while suffering only mild symptoms from the disease on Sunday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced her breakthrough case, given her fully vaccinated status including boosters, on Twitter.
“I regularly test for COVID & while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case,” she said.
The Democrat added that she was “only experiencing mild symptoms,” which she attributed to be protection from serious illness given by the vaccine and its booster shots.
I regularly test for COVID & while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case. Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms & am grateful for the protection provided against serious illness that comes from being vaccinated & boosted.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) December 19, 2021
She urged everyone to get vaccinated, and also for the vaccinated to get a booster shot “as soon as possible.”
“Together, we can save lives,” Warren wrote.
Shortly after, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker also said on Twitter that he has tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
Booker said he first started feeling symptoms on Saturday, and that they are “relatively mild.” He also encouraged those eligible for the vaccine to get vaccinated and boosted.
“I’m beyond grateful to have received two doses of vaccine and, more recently, a booster—I’m certain that without them I would be doing much worse,” he added.
It is unclear which strain of the CCP virus the senators have contracted. The Omicron variant currently accounts for around 3 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States—up from 0.4 percent last week. The remaining 97 percent are attributed to the Delta variant.
South African health ministry officials said on Dec. 17 that based on government data, the number of Omicron variant patients in the hospital is one-tenth that of Delta patients during its initial phase. Previously, top-level medical authorities in the country said the variant appears to present milder symptoms than the Delta or Alpha variants.
On Friday, Southwest Airlines said its Chief Executive Gary Kelly tested positive for COVID-19 after appearing at a U.S. Senate Commerce hearing on Wednesday alongside other airline industry executives. Southwest said Kelly was vaccinated and recovering at home.
Warren and Booker are not members of the Commerce Committee.
In August, three other U.S. senators—Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado, and independent Angus King of Maine all tested positive for COVID-19.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also said in August he had tested positive. All four were vaccinated and subsequently recovered.
Other senators who previously tested positive and recovered include Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips and Reuters contributed to this report.
