The Reverend Jesse Jackson and his wife Jacqueline have been admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19, according to a statement on Saturday.
Reverend Jackson, 79, a famed civil rights leader, is vaccinated against the virus and received his first dose in January during a publicised event as he urged others to receive the inoculation as soon as possible.
He and his 77-year-old wife are being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
“Doctors are currently monitoring the condition of both,” according to the statement authorised by the couple’s son, Jonathan Jackson.
“There are no further updates at this time.”
A protege of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Reverend Jackson was key in guiding the modern civil rights movement on numerous issues, including voting rights.
Despite having been diagnosed for Parkinson’s disease, Reverend Jackson has remained active, and has advocated for Covid-19 vaccines for black people, who lag behind white people in the United States’ vaccination drive.
