(NEXSTAR) – Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative for COVID-19 after the White House says she had “close contact” with a staff member who has tested positive.
In a statement released Wednesday, the White House said the individual “who staffed the Vice President throughout the day Tuesday” received a positive test result after testing negative Monday and every day last week. The staff member, who has not been identified, is fully vaccinated, boosted, and did not experience symptoms.
After learning of the staff member’s positive result, Vice President Harris was tested and received a negative result, according to the White House. She is tested regularly, the White House explains, and will be tested again on Friday and Monday, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As CDC guidance does not require fully vaccinated people to quarantine after an exposure, the Vice President will continue with her daily schedule. This evening, she will depart Joint Base Andrews for Los Angeles where she and the Second Gentleman will remain through the New Year,” the statement reads.
This comes just hours after U.S. health regulators authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus.