Lauren Moye, FISM News
Only four days after ending isolation, a rebound case of Covid-19 landed President Joe Biden back in quarantine again days after praising a treatment drug.
Biden said he was “feeling fine” in a video announcement released on his social media accounts yesterday. The video shows Biden, 79, supporting himself on a rail but on his feet. Commander, his German Shepherd, is seen laying on a bench.
After revealing he had tested positive again, the president added: “Going to be working from home for the next couple days. And I’m feeling fine, everything’s good. But Command I got a little work to do.”
In a separate tweet, Biden said he had no symptoms but was isolated for the safety of others.
White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor described the case as a “rebound” seen in a small number of patients who take the drug Paxlovid. The Pfizer Inc. antiviral drug is used to treat high-risk COVID patients.
Paxlovid is a five-day treatment course. Rebounds can occur days after the final treatment according to studies that show a 3-4% chance of this occurring. However, one doctor who previously spoke to Reuters estimated that the drug had a much higher 10% rebound rate.
Biden recently praised the “lifesaving” drug that “reduces risk of hospitalization and death” during his Wednesday remarks in the Rose Garden that signaled the end of his first round of isolation. The president formerly tested positive on July 21.
There are no plans to restart treatment, according to O’Connor.
Both isolation periods have interrupted public appearances and a planned visit with Argentina President Alberto Fernandez.
Biden has used his infection as a chance to tout the greatness of his administration. On Wednesday, Biden told Americans that “many of us are still going to get COVID even if we take the precautions. That doesn’t mean we are — we were doing anything wrong.”
He then plugged the “three free tools” his administration has implemented for reducing the death rate and symptoms of COVID-19: booster shots, at-home tests, and treatments such as Paxlovid.
He even delivered a cheap shot with a comparison to former-President Donald Trump’s experience with the virus. “He was severely ill. Thankfully, he recovered. When I got COVID, I worked from upstairs of the White House,” he said.
Trump tested positive on Oct. 2, 2020. After a weekend in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump returned to the White House on Oct. 5.
Since then, the dominant variant of the virus has become Omicron. This variant is naturally more mild than the original virus despite being more infectious, according to even top White House doctor Anthony Fauci. Additionally, the vaccines have been found to have lower efficacy against this variant according to an older FISM report.
That didn’t stop Biden from repeatedly bragging about the 90% lower death rate since he took office on Wednesday. He stated, “Let me close with this: Over the past 18 months, my administration has left no stone unturned in our fight against this pandemic. None.”