In a tweet, emergency room physician Dr. Vin Gupta urged Texans to “take note” of Gov. Greg Abbott’s “anxious and scared” reaction after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
After Abbott’s office shared news of his positive test, Gupta — a lung doctor and NBC News contributor — tweeted that the Republican governor’s quick access to monoclonal therapy even though he’s fully vaccinated “shows just how nervous [he] actually is of a virus that he constantly downplays.”
Abbott is waging a high-profile court battle to defend his recent executive orders blocking municipalities from enacting mask and vaccine requirements even as they grapple with runaway COVID-19 infections. Texas’ spike in cases also comes as children too young to be vaccinated head back to school.
Abbott is 63 and is paralyzed from a spinal injury, both of which put him in a higher risk group. However, in a statement released Tuesday, his office said he was suffering no symptoms. What’s more, CNBC, citing two sources, reported that the governor told people that he received a third shot as a booster prior to his positive test.
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This article appears in Aug 11-24, 2021.