Second gentleman Doug Emhoff was worried he’d give his VP wife Kamala Harris COVID
A month after contracting coronavirus, second gentleman Doug Emhoff has a lingering thought: it could have been so much worse.
Emhoff had to stay in isolation for 10 days — and apart from his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris — as he recovered from the illness. He said he had symptoms after testing positive, including fatigue, but has not experienced any long-term side effects, thanks to his two-dose vaccine course and booster shot.
“Others have had such a worse outcome with COVID,” Emhoff said in an interview.
Harris’ husband remained at the official residence of the vice president on the grounds of the Naval Observatory throughout his quarantine, he says, but food had to be brought up to him as he isolated in one of the three-story house’s upstairs rooms.
Emhoff said he was “very careful” while he was symptomatic. “Because, imagine not wanting to give — not only my wife, but the vice president of the United States — COVID,” he said. “She fortunately did not get it.”
The second gentleman is the only White House principal within the first or second families who is known to have tested positive for COVID-19 since President Joe Biden took office. Harris has been a close contact of individuals who later found out that they had the coronavirus, however, spokespersons for the vice president have said each time that she subsequently tested negative.
Emhoff tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-March after he began experiencing mild symptoms following his participation in an outdoor event at a community garden, a White House official said at the time.
Harris’ spouse said in a tweet that he passed the time by “resting up watching the NCAA tournaments.” Halfway through his isolation he was able to begin working virtually with his team, Emhoff said in an interview.
“My goal was to, just to follow, you know, kind of doctor’s orders and get rest, stay hydrated and just take my time so I can get through it,” Emhoff said.
Emhoff eased back into his official duties, taking a National Park Service-guided tour of the Tidal Basin and Washington’s cherry blossom trees in late March. A few days later, he participated in a White House event aimed at bringing awareness to issues facing transgender youth.
He is traveling this week in California, where he appeared on Monday evening with his wife at a Los Angeles fundraiser. Emhoff is headed to Seattle and San Francisco later in the week to raise more cash for the Democratic Party, according to his White House schedule.
Emhoff sat for an interview at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School after one of his first events that was open to the press since he became ill.
He said during the conversation that he had been traveling quite a bit in his capacity as second gentleman in the lead-up to his positive test and was not sure where he picked up the virus.
“Now that I’ve had it, and I’ve talked to others who’ve had it, it’s a similar situation with the classic symptoms that you kind of get all at once and the fatigue. But then it comes in, it hits kind of hard, and then it leaves, and then it’s fine,” he said. “And then, you know, you just go out and you’re back out on the road.”
A vocal proponent of coronavirus vaccines and boosters prior to contracting the disease, Emhoff returned to the Biden administration’s message repeatedly about inoculation as a means of avoiding hospitalization and death. He also encouraged Americans who are eligible for a second booster shot to get one.
“The vaccines work, the booster works,” Emhoff said. “So unlike many, unfortunately, who didn’t get the shots and who had far worse outcomes, that’s really the message I want to get out there.”
Emhoff said his experience was not all that different from that of other vaccinated Americans who contract COVID, aside from the anxiety he had about exposing and potentially sickening Harris, who is the nation’s second-highest ranking elected official.
“Now that I’ve been through it, I feel you all out there who’ve had it,” he said. “But again, get the shots, get the boosters, get the second shot when you’re able, and if you do get it, then you’ll kind of have the experience that I’ve had, where you have a few rough days, and then you’re back out and fine, feeling great.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Second gentleman Doug Emhoff was worried he’d give his VP wife Kamala Harris COVID."
