Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday, according to a statement obtained by CBS Los Angeles.
“Today, I have received a positive test result for COVID,” Waters said, according to CBS Los Angeles. “I am following all protocols as recommended by the Office of the Attending Physician and CDC guidance.”
Waters, at the age of 83, is in the high-risk demographic for coronavirus disease.
However, she reportedly said that she was not experiencing symptoms. For this, she thanked her booster shots.
“I am currently isolating and have no symptoms,” Waters said, according to CBS Los Angeles and Fox News Digital.
“I am grateful to be fully vaccinated and to have received two booster shots. Thankfully, I am feeling fine and recommend everyone to get vaccinated if you have not done so already.”
In March, Food and Drug Administration authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for Americans over 50.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later recommended the extra shot as an option but stopped short of urging that those eligible rush out and get it right away. That decision expanded the additional booster to millions more Americans.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC’s director, said it was especially important for older Americans — those 65 and older — and the 50-somethings with chronic illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes to consider another shot.
“They are the most likely to benefit from receiving an additional booster dose at this time,” Walensky said.
There’s evidence protection can wane particularly in higher-risk groups, and for them another booster “will help save lives,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said.
According to a March press release, the FDA found “no new safety concerns” from the fourth shot, after reviewing more than 700,000 data points from Israel across four months.
Waters has become the latest in a long string of D.C. lawmakers to test positive for COVID-19. In fact, she announced her test result just one day after Vice President Kamala Harris’s positive test.
Democrats make up the overwhelming majority of lawmakers testing positive. However, conservative media has largely refrained from lecturing the Democrats about their hygiene habits, outside a few stray Twitter users.
With the omicron variant and the BA.2 subvariant, the illness has become so contagious as to affect even responsible citizens with proper hygiene.
At some point, Republican lawmakers will inevitably test positive for the disease… and some conservatives don’t expect liberal media to return the favor.
Can you imagine the media lectures we would be receiving nonstop if most of these individuals had an (R) instead of a (D) after their names? https://t.co/MfjAjMoZBh
— Sharma (@bansisharma) April 14, 2022
The Horn editorial team and The Associated Press contributed to this article.