Rev Jesse Jackson's wife Jacqueline, 77, is hospitalized with COVID after refusing vaccine because of 'preexisting condition': Civil rights icon also in hospital with virus despite having Pfizer shot, and says he's doing 'fairly well'

The wife of civil rights icon the Reverend Jesse Jackson has been hospitalized with COVID after refusing to get a vaccine..

Jacqueline Jackson, 77, received oxygenat Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after being admitted Saturday, although she is now breathing independently. 

Her family revealed Tuesday that Jacqueline had refused to have the shot because of an underlying condition, but offered no further information on what it was.   

Jacqueline and her husband, 79, both tested positive for the virus over the weekend, even though he is fully-vaccinated against COVID.

Rev Jackson, who has Parkinson's disease, and who received his Pfizer shot in January, said he is doing 'fairly well' during a phone call with The Associated Press Tuesday. 

He received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a public event in January where he encouraged others to do the same.  

She received oxygen but is now breathing on her own without a respirator, according to family members. 

Generally, public health experts strongly encourage people with existing health conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, to get vaccinated as they are at increased risk of serious COVID-19 symptoms. 

 Rev Jesse Jackson has said he is doing 'fairly well' after receiving treatment for his breakthrough COVID-19 infection at Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Rev. Jesse Jackson receives the Pfizer's BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Kiran Chekka, Covid Administration Physician at the Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago on January 8

Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, are seen in 2013. Jacqueline has reportedly not received the COVID-19 vaccine because of an unspecified 'pre-existing condition' 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday August 24, 2021 @RevJJackson & @MrsJacquelineL3 COVID-19 UPDATE: Tuesday, August 24, 2021 1:30p.m. ( ET) Statement by son, @thejacksonfile pic.twitter.com/SNAnhVLdCY

— RainbowPUSHCoalition (@RPCoalition) August 24, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday August 24, 2021 @RevJJackson & @MrsJacquelineL3 COVID-19 UPDATE: Tuesday, August 24, 2021 1:30p.m. ( ET) Statement by son, @thejacksonfile pic.twitter.com/SNAnhVLdCY

Family members have said the Jacksons were admitted to the hospital in part because of their age and that both have been responding positively to treatment.

The couple have been married for nearly 60 years.  

Over the weekend, Jonathan Jackson, one of their five children, said that doctors were 'carefully monitoring the conditions' of his parents.' 

'My family appreciates all of the expressions of concern and prayers that have been offered on their behalf, and we will continue to offer our prayers for your family as well,' read the statement, released via the younger Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition.

'The health status of both my parents is unchanged.

'They continue to rest comfortably and to receive treatment,' Jonathan Jackson added in a Tuesday statement. 

'We are continuing to remember you, and we are praying for all who are suffering from the COVID-19 virus. We will have nothing further to say until tomorrow's update,' he concluded.  

Rev Jackson, who was hospitalized early this year for gallbladder surgery, has remained active and continued traveling and advocating for voting rights and other causes.

The prevalence of so-called 'breakthrough cases' - those which infect people who've been fully-vaccinated - is causing concern as the Indian 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.

Jonathan Jackson, one of the couple's five children, said in a Sunday statement that doctors were 'carefully monitoring the conditions' of his parents, 'especially because of their ages'

'My family appreciates all of the expressions of concern and prayers that have been offered on their behalf, and we will continue to offer our prayers for your family as well,' read the statement, released via the Jonathan Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition.

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.

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.'