White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki danced around questions from the press on whether Biden would have come clean regarding a vaccinated staffer’s recent bout of COVID-19 if the media had not announced it first.
Psaki did confirm several breakthrough positive COVID-19 test results among staffers who had been previously vaccinated but only after a White House official broke the news to Axios.
When asked during a press gaggle Wednesday if the White House would have disclosed the case regardless of Axios’ report, Psaki did not directly respond. She said the White House will disclose cases involving individuals who were in close contact with top officials going forward.
“Because of our commitment to transparency, what we’re going to be providing moving forward are updates on any White House official who tests positive for COVID-19 that the White House medical unit deems as having close contact with the president, vice president, first lady, or second gentleman,” Psaki said. “That will be up to the White House medical unit based on the criteria of the CDC.”
“At no point has the president been required to change his behavior or self-quarantine due to close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID,” she added.
The email informing White House staffers of the new policy was met with reluctance.
Psaki noted that with approximately 2,000 individuals on the White House grounds each day, breakthrough cases among vaccinated staffers “will occur, just like they occur across the country.”
“They have occurred, they will continue to occur. We’re prepared for that,” Psaki said. “As the instance yesterday shows, cases in vaccinated individuals are typically mild or asymptomatic. This is one more reminder of the efficacy of the covid-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalization.”
According to the press secretary, the White House would continue to follow the CDC’s public health guidelines while implementing some of its own COVID-19 protocols.
