Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife Jacqueline, 77, are hospitalized with COVID in Chicago: Former presidential candidate is fully vaccinated
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, have been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, according to a statement Saturday.
Jesse Jackson, a famed civil rights leader, is vaccinated against the virus and received his first Pfizer dose in January during a publicized event as he urged others to vaccinate as soon as possible.
Jacqueline Jackson, a largely private figure, has not spoken publicly about her vaccination status. The two are being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
'Doctors are currently monitoring the condition of both,' according to the statement authorized by their son, Jonathan Jackson.
Rev. Jesse Jackson received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in January . The Jacksons are being treated for COVID at a Chicago hospital. He is 79 years old. Jacqueline Jackson is 77
Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, are seen in 2013. They are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Chicago
'There are no further updates at this time,' the statement said. 'We will provide updates as they become available.'
The prevalence of so-called 'breakthrough cases' is causing concern as the Delta variant drives a surge in cases nationwide.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that vaccines greatly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, even if they don't prevent all cases among the vaccinated.
'While these vaccines are effective, no vaccine prevents illness 100% of the time. For any vaccine, there are breakthrough cases,' the CDC website acknowledges.
'However, fully vaccinated people are much less likely to be hospitalized or die than people with similar risk factors who are not vaccinated,' the agency said.
Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to the crowd during a demonstration supporting Democrats' push to change election laws, on Capitol Hill on August 2
Three US senators said Thursday they have tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, though none were ill enough to be hospitalized.
Senators Angus King, a Main Independent, Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and John Hickenlooper, a Democrat from Colorado, all said they have tested positive for the virus.
A protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson was key in guiding the modern civil rights movement on numerous issues, including voting rights.
Jackson has remained active, most recently advocating for COVID-19 vaccines for black people, who lag behind other racial groups in the United States' vaccination drive.
In the past month, Jackson has been arrested twice participating in protests demanding the passage of the Democrats' voting bill.
In late July, he was arrested during a sit-in at Senator Kyrsten Sinema's office in Phoenix, where protesters demanded the moderate Democrat withdraw her support for the Senate filibuster.
The Jacksons are being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago
Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, are seen in 2018. They are currently hospitalized with COVID-19
On August 2, Jackson was arrested with 200 other demonstrators during a protest at the U.S. Capitol .
The protest, organized by Poor People's Campaign, was part of a series of events to demand the passage of Democrats' new election rules, an end to the filibuster, a $15 hourly minimum wage and protection for immigrants.
Speakers at the rally - that began in Washington DC in front of Union Station, and ended on the Capitol - included Lyndon B. Johnson's daughter Luci Baines Johnson.
Her father signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which organizers say 'has since been gutted.'