CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson was released Wednesday from a Chicago facility a month after he was hospitalized for a breakthrough COVID-19 infection and following intensive physical therapy for Parkinson’s disease.
The civil rights leader and his wife, Jacqueline, were first hospitalized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital last month. Jesse Jackson, 79, was vaccinated for COVID-19 but his 77-year-old wife was not. She required oxygen and a brief intensive care unit stay before she was released earlier this month.
Family members said the reverend’s case wasn’t as severe and less than a week after he was first hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment, he was transferred to a nearby in-patient facility for intensive occupational and physical therapy because of Parkinson’s. He was released from The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab on Wednesday, according to Chinta Strausberg, a spokeswoman with Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
“We know it is a miracle that both of our parents are now COVID-19 survivors, and we thank God for his healing,” one of the couple’s sons, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement Wednesday. “We also pray for the millions of people who have been infected with this virus and pray they too will also overcome.”
While Jesse Jackson has advocated for COVID-19 vaccinations for months, particularly for Black people, he told The Associated Press last month that his wife of nearly 60 years wasn’t vaccinated because she had an undisclosed “pre-existing condition” that worried family members. Generally, public health experts strongly encourage people with existing health conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, to get vaccinated as they are at increased risk for severe illness.
However, since her release from the hospital, Jacqueline Jackson has become a “true advocate for everyone” to get vaccinated, according to Jonathan Jackson.
Earlier this year, Jesse Jackson was hospitalized for gallbladder surgery followed by physical therapy for Parkinson’s. He has remained active and continued traveling and advocating for voting rights and other causes.
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