Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper 'in good spirits' after testing positive for COVID-19
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced in a tweet.
Hickenlooper, the former Mayor of Denver and governor of Colorado, is fully vaccinated, so this is considered a “breakthrough case.”
“I feel good but will isolate per docs instructions,” he tweeted. “I’m grateful for the vaccine (& the scientists behind it!) for limiting my symptoms. “If you haven’t gotten your shot—get it today! And a booster when it’s available too!”
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I've tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19. I feel good but will isolate per docs instructions. I’m grateful for the vaccine (& the scientists behind it!) for limiting my symptoms.
— Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick) August 19, 2021
If you haven’t gotten your shot—get it today! And a booster when it’s available too!
As PBS NewsHour's Lisa Desjardins pointed out, Hickenlooper is one of three Senators that tested positive for COVID-19 on August 19. The others were Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and they too are fully vaccinated.
“Just over a week ago they were all on + off Senate floor for dozens of votes (‘vote-a-rama’),” Desjardins tweeted. “As we all noticed then, there were lots of maskless convos.”
Similar to Hickenlooper, King emphasized the importance of the vaccine, saying “I'm definitely feeling much better than I would have without the vaccine.”
While public health experts agree that we are largely in a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” breakthrough cases are becoming more common. In Colorado, breakthrough cases made up about 20% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the first three weeks of July, according to a presentation by state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy. More recent data was not immediately available because the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) does not include breakthrough cases on its COVID-19 data dashboard.
Herlihy did note in an August briefing that the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations for unvaccinated people in Colorado is about 7 times higher than vaccinated people.
[Related: In a Handful of States, Early Data Hint at a Rise in Breakthrough Infections]
The cases also highlight the transmissibility of the highly contagious delta variant, which is now the most common form of the virus in both Colorado and the country.
Polis, who has recently advocated for Coloradans to get booster shots of COVID-19 when available, told Hickenlooper to “get well soon.”
“We remind all Coloradans to make a plan to get the COVID vaccine as soon as possible,” Polis said. “It’s the best chance at protection and limiting symptoms if you become infected with the deadly virus.”
On August 18, the White House COVID-19 task force announced it is recommending all Americans receive a COVID-19 booster shot eight months after they received their initial doses. The doses could begin as soon as September 20.
This story will be updated.
Kyle Cooke is the Digital Media Manager for Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at kylecooke@rmpbs.org.