Obama tests positive for COVID-19, reiterates support for vaccination program

Former US President Barack Obama, wearing a face mask, leaves after attending a meeting on day nine of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on November 8, 2021. 

Barack Obama has tested positive for a mild case of COVID-19, the former US president said on his Twitter account Sunday.

"I've had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise," Obama tweeted, adding that his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, has so far tested negative.

Obama, plus fellow former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton - and the former first ladies - appeared together in a one-minute video released in March 2021, endorsing the US vaccination campaign and sharing what they missed about pre-pandemic life.

"This vaccine means hope," Obama said in the video. "It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease."

In August 2021, Obama scaled back his 60th birthday celebrations due to the spread of the Delta variant. 

Conservative political opponents had lashed out at the former president for planning to host an outdoor party - in which attendees were required to be vaccinated - that had been expected to draw hundreds of guests after Democrats had criticized Donald Trump's administration for organizing several maskless events at the White House. 

Obama reiterated his support for the vaccine in his tweet Sunday, saying his own positive test was "a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven't already, even as cases go down."