Has President Biden been infected by Omicron yet? Yes, on 7/21/22

Last update: 7/21/22 

In January 2022, Dr. Fauci predicted that sooner or later just about everyone would become infected by Omicron, a prediction that came true for the good doctor himself in mid-June 2022. Readers may recall that the 81 year old infectious disease expert had previously declined to attend the infamous White House Correspondents Association gala in May 2022 because of concern for his "personal risk", a gala that our 79 year old president did attend, wearing no mask while standing close to lots of other attendees, some of whom tested positive in the days after the gala. 

When the prudent Dr. Fauci tested positive yet again in late June 2022, he credited his not becoming sick enough to require hospitalization to the antiviral Paxlovid pills he quickly gobbled up. So the inescapable question for serious COVID wonks, like the editor of this blog, is straight-forward: Has our 79 year old president been infected yet? And if not, why not?

Anyone who wonders where so many Americans get the notion that the pandemic is over need only look at the @POTUS Twitter feed for a few days. Here are six recent photos from the feed that were presumably taken by a White House photographer and received the president's approval. In other words these photos are the real deal; they are not deep fakes.  

• "As BA.5 Spreads, White House Warns Covid Is Not Over", Sheryl Gay Stolberg, NY Times, 7/12/22 

These official photos should dispel any doubts that, no matter what he says, our 79 year old president acts as though he believes that the pandemic is over and therefore feels no risk of infection by returning to his life-long habits of engaging in close indoor encounters with lots of folks, none of whom wear masks. 

But as Omicron begets ever more transmissible variants, how long can President Biden remain the nation's oldest and most prominent exception to Dr. Fauci's prediction that sooner or later Omicron will infect just about everyone? Indefinitely, if everyone the president meets tests negative ... yeah, like tests never yield false negatives. ... Well how about daily doses of Paxlovid pills for the president before, during, and after his meetings  ... OK, but if variants evolve to evade our vaccines, why can't they evolve to evade our antivirals???

• "Biden, 79, is experiencing fatigue, a runny nose and a dry cough after testing positive.", Michael D. Shear, NY Times, 7/21/22 
• "US President Joe Biden tests positive for Covid", Michelle Roberts, BBC, 7/21/22 

Why are all of those members
of this South Korean delegation 
wearing masks? Just because 

their country has one of the

world's lowest COVID death

rates per 100,000 doesn't give 

them the right to rudely wear

 masks when our president is 

bare faced... Where's the love?

.

If you all squeeze in a little bit closer, this group selfie might commemorate the Fauci moment when I finally catch the bug from one of you ... or you catch it from me before I pop my next Paxlovid.

 Is that a black mask? No, 

just a little boy's proud, 

bald, bearded daddy.

C'mon guys, you have to clap a lot harder to clap all of your nasty little aerosols away from me.

On the count of "three" don't say "cheese". 

Say "North Atlantic pandemic super spreader"

I'm glad you tested negative, although  my wife would understand if I caught COVID from you; but she might kill me if I caught monkeypox from one of them.

____________________________________

Links to related notes on this blog:  

• "Our pandemic of the elderly -- unvaccinated, vaccinated, and boosted", Last update: 7/18/22