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In this file photo from Friday, January 8, 2021, Reverend Jesse Jackson receives Pfizer’s BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Kiran Chekka, a Covid administration physician at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
CHICAGO (AP) – Reverend Jesse Jackson said on Tuesday he was feeling “pretty well” and receiving excellent care at a Chicago hospital after a breakthrough infection with COVID-19.
He spoke briefly by phone with the Associated Press at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he and his wife, Jacqueline, have been hospitalized in separate rooms since the weekend when they tested positive for the virus.
“I’m doing pretty well,” the civil rights leader said.
The 79-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease has been fully vaccinated. He received his first dose at a public event in January where he encouraged others to do the same. But his 77-year-old wife Jacqueline, also a civil rights activist, has not been vaccinated. She was given oxygen but is breathing on her own without a respirator, according to family members.
Jesse Jackson said his wife was not vaccinated because she suffered from a “pre-existing condition” that worried them. He hasn’t developed.
Generally, public health experts strongly encourage people with existing health conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, to get vaccinated because they are at increased risk of serious illness.
Family members said the Jackson’s were admitted to hospital in part because of their age and both responded positively to treatment. They have been married for almost 60 years.
“The state of health of both of my parents is unchanged,” one of their sons, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement on Tuesday. “They continue to rest comfortably and receive treatment.”
Jackson, who was hospitalized earlier this year for gallbladder surgery, has remained active and has continued to travel and advocate for voting rights and other causes.
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