Psaki Rebuffs Reporter Asking for Number of White House Covid Infections: ‘Why Do You Need to Have that Information?’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki battled with a reporter on Friday who asked whether her refusal to reveal the number of vaccinated White House staffers who contracted Covid-19 meant she was trying to “hide something.”

“This administration has long claimed that you’re trying to be the most transparent in history,” the reporter asked Psaki at the White House’s daily briefing. “If that’s the case, why won’t you just release the number of breakthrough cases you’ve had among vaccinated staffers?”

Psaki mostly ignored the reporter’s effort to get an answer, saying the country was “in a very different place as it relates to the virus” and speaking favorably about the efficacy of vaccines, saying those who had received them were “protected from serious illness.”

After about 30 seconds, the frustrated reporter replied, “But why not just provide the number? Are you trying to hide something?”

Psaki responded: “No, but why do you need to have that information?”

“Transparency, interests of the public, to have a better understanding of how breakthrough cases work here in the White House,” the reporter replied. Psaki informed the reporter that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was responsible for “a great deal of tracking” before moving on.

As of July 19, the CDC said, 5,914 Americans who had been vaccinated contracted Covid-19 cases that led to hospitalization or death. The agency does not provide specific data on White House personnel.

Watch above via NBC.

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