US Vice President Kamala Harris Takes COVID Test After Close Aid Tests Positive

Kamala Harris tests negative for COVID-19: Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America, underwent a COVID test after one of her staffers, who had been in close contact with her, tested positive. Her test results came back negative.

The staffer had tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, the same day Harris went through a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test. Out of precaution, Harris will be tested again in a few days, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

"The Vice President is tested on a regular basis. As a part of that regular testing, the Vice President received an antigen test this morning and tested negative," the White House said in a statement.

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"Earlier today, after being notified of the staffer's positive test, the Vice President received a PCR test and tested negative. She will be tested again on Friday then again on Monday per CDC guidance."

Previously, a staffer who travelled on Air Force One with the US President also tested positive for coronavirus following which Joe Biden too took a test, which came back negative.

The president and vice president are fully vaccinated against coronavirus and have taken the booster doze as well. However, both the staffers who came in their contact and later tested positive too had been fully vaccinated and had taken the booster dose.

Coronavirus cases surge : 

The cases of the new coronavirus variation, Omicron have been rising all over the world. WHO has declared it a "variant of concern" two days after the first case was reported in South Africa.

Suggested Reading: Omicron FAQ: Is It A ‘Super-Variant?’ Can It Evade Vaccines?

The effectiveness of currently available vaccines against this new coronavirus variant is also a matter of concern for many researchers. A recent study claimed that most of the current vaccines available for COVID-19 won’t be effective in preventing infection caused by Omicron.

Companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca with Oxford University, etc are already working towards developing a vaccine specifically for the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

Cases of the Omicron variant are seeing a rapid surge across the globe. In the US, the variant now accounts for over 73 percent of the news COVID-19 cases. India has reported 213 cases of the new variant so far.