Ex-White House Testing Czar Says Biden ‘At Risk’ After Contracting COVID-19

President Joe Biden prepares to board Air Force One at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, on July 15, 2022. Abir Sultar/AFP/Getty Images

Former White House COVID-19 testing chief Brett Giroir weighed in on President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis, saying that the president’s advanced age puts him “at risk” of severe symptoms.

A report issued Friday by the physician to the 79-year-old president (pdf) said that Biden had a temperature of 99.4 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday night and his “temperature has remained normal since then,” according to the White House. He also took the Pfizer drug Paxlovid and is “tolerating treatment well” while it is anticipated that Biden will “respond favorably” to the treatment.

But Giroir, a pediatrician, told Fox News Friday that because of Biden’s “advanced age” and “underlying health conditions,” he’s “at risk.

“I think we need to be quite careful because the president is at advanced age,” Giroir advised. “He also has underlying health conditions, including Atrial fibrillation. He’s had previous aneurysms and strokes. So, I would be cautious. I wouldn’t be so rosy ... that everything is going to be fine. He is at risk.”

Data and numerous studies have shown that elderly people have the greatest risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death of any age group. Meanwhile, children and young adults have the lowest risk.

“The other issue I would say is Paxlovid is a very good drug, but it has drug-drug interactions with many of the drugs I believe the president is on, including blood thinners or anti-coagulants, and it could cause dangerous changes in that,” Giroir added. “So, I’m sure the White House medical unit is on this and is monitoring that. But that is one issue with Paxlovid in addition to the rebound that I would watch for in the president.”

Paxlovid

The former Trump administration testing chief was making reference to alerts sent out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) several weeks ago to healthcare providers about the so-called “COVID rebound,” or a recurrence of symptoms, associated with Paxlovid.

Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Adm. Brett Giroir testifies to Congress in Washington on July 2, 2020. Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Getty Images

Last month, White House adviser Anthony Fauci revealed that he was taking Paxlovid for COVID-19 and developed a recurrence of symptoms after testing negative for three days. Fauci, who at age 81 is also at risk, said he tested positive on the fourth day.

“Over the next day or so, I started to feel really poorly, much worse than in the first go around,” the longtime federal employee told a panel in late June. “So, I went back on Paxlovid and right now I am on my fourth day of a five-day course.”

As for Biden, he released a video on Twitter Thursday while speaking from a White House balcony saying he’s “fine” and is “keeping busy.”

On Friday, his account said that “Biden continued working from the White House this morning, including speaking by phone with his national security team.”