Reporters Grill Psaki About VP Kamala Harris Taking Covid Drug Paxlovid: ‘Help Us Understand Why She’s Taking It’
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was grilled over the treatment of Vice President Kamala Harris with Paxlovid, a drug authorized for high-risk Covid patients.
Ms. Psaki held a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, during which Vice President Kamala Harris’ treatment for her recent Covid diagnosis came up repeatedly, with three different reporters asking multiple questions about the drug.
“Yesterday, Dr. Jha said that people who are at high risk for developing a severe case of COVID are eligible for Paxlovid. And the Vice President just got her second booster shot. She has no symptoms. Can you help us understand why she’s taking it?” asked CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang.
“Well, he also said, which you didn’t include in your summary there, but — that you should consult with your doctor, and she consulted with her doctor. She has been given Paxlovid,” Psaki replied. “That’s something many Americans may be eligible for; they should also consult with their doctor.”
Later in the briefing, two other reporters drilled down on the question, offering other potential explanations for the treatment. Psaki gave variations on her original answer:
Q Thanks, Jen. Do you know why the Vice President’s doctor recommended she take Paxlovid?
MS. PSAKI: Oh, well, I think as Dr. Jha said yesterday, there are a range of Americans who may not know they’re eligible and they should consult with their doctor. That’s exactly what she did. And one of the chal — not challenges, but one of our efforts right now is to provide more information publicly and have more people consult with their doctors about whether they’re eligible.
Q Do you know if she’s, like, showing symptoms? Or would her getting, like, severe COVID present, like, a national security risk?
MS. PSAKI: They obviously said yesterday that she did not have any symptoms. I don’t have any update beyond that.
She’s continuing to work from home, conducting her duties as Vice President, so I don’t believe we’re talking about a national security issue in this moment. She can also do secure calls and video conferences from her home because we have that capacity.
Q But if she got severe COVID disease, would that not be a national security risk?
MS. PSAKI: I’m not going to —
Q So, Paxlovid would potentially prevent that.
MS. PSAKI: I’m not going to speak to a hypothetical of the Vice President getting sicker at this point in time, which I think is probably understandable.
…
Q And then on the Vice President, did her role as Vice President have any impact on her receiving this treatment? Did that — you know, her serving as somebody who is in the line of succession, did that have any impact on her getting Paxlovid?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think it’s important to note Paxlovid is widely available across the country through people consulting with their doctors. So it is not just a treatment that is available to only a small population of the public.
In fact, what our effort is and what our focus is, at this point, is more broadly educating people on how they may be eligible for it. Certainly, we are grateful that this treatment is out there and available so that the Vice President, somebody who’s incredibly important in the line of succession, can take it. But she did it through consultations with her doctor.
Psaki’s response heavily implies that the treatment was done at the discretion of VP Harris’ doctor, without revealing the specific risk factor involved in the decision. The FDA’s guidance for Paxlovid relies on the CDC’s definition of high risk.
Those guidelines include a list of underlying conditions, as well as this notation: “The list below does not include all possible conditions that put you at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you have questions about a condition not included on this list, talk to your healthcare provider about how best to manage your condition and protect yourself from COVID-19.”
Watch above via The White House and AP.
