Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, despite being vaccinated.
Why it matters: Graham emphasized that the mildness of his symptoms is due to being vaccinated. If he had been unvaccinated his symptoms would be "far worse," he said.
The latest: It appears that Graham may have exposed a number of other senators to the virus this weekend after he attended a weekend get-together hosted by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on the latter's houseboat, CNN reports.
"Sen. Manchin is fully vaccinated and following the CDC guidelines for those exposed to a COVID-positive individual," a Manchin spokeswoman told CNN.
Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Jacky Rosen (D-N.V.) were also at the bipartisan gathering and are now following CDC guidelines for persons exposed to a COVID-positive individual, reports Business Insider.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-N.V.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.), all of whom are fully vaccinated, also attended the boat gathering. Thune has already received his test results and tested negative for COVID-19.
Senate Democrats have gone back to holding virtual meetings in light of the news of Graham's positive test.
The big picture: Graham received the coronavirus vaccine in December 2020 and has advocated for his constituents to get inoculated.
Graham said he began experiencing flu-like symptoms on Saturday and visited his doctor Monday morning.
He described his symptoms as mild and confirmed that he will quarantine for 10 days.
"I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now," he wrote. "My symptoms would be far worse."
Of note: Despite the attention given to them, "breakthrough" COVID-19 cases remain exceedingly rare.
steve1186 on August 2nd, 2021 at 19:51 UTC »
So not only is he vaccinated, he’s saying he’s thankful he’s been vaccinated.
BRB, sending this to every conservative family member and friend who are hesitant to get the vaccine. “Moderate” conservatives love this guy
EDIT: I’m going to post this here instead of replying to the same comment I’ve received like 20 times below: The vaccine is NOT intended to prevent you from contracting COVID, testing positive for COVID, or spreading COVID.
However, just like pretty much every other vaccine in existence, it prevents you from becoming seriously ill from the virus. And the COVID vaccines actually do this much better than the usual seasonal flu vaccine.
Lindsey Graham (in this article) literally says he’s glad he got the vaccine, because without it, it could have been much worse. And that’s straight out of Graham’s mouth
PDXGolem on August 2nd, 2021 at 19:38 UTC »
Hopefully this will inspire more of his voters to get vaccinated.
pinkjunglegym on August 2nd, 2021 at 19:20 UTC »
This coming a couple of days after the unvaccinated and unmasked republican congressman did their stupid Senate demonstration is suspicious.