Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Argentina's President tests positive for Covid-19 after vaccine

Argentina's President tests positive for Covid-19 after vaccine

He said he'd take the Covid-19 vaccine first, as a role model for the rest of Argentina. A little over two months after receiving the Russian-made Sputnik V, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández has tested positive for the coronavirus.

In a series of tweets posted Friday evening -- his birthday -- the Argentinian President said a fever and slight headache had prompted him to get tested.

"I'm already isolated, complying with the current protocol and following the instructions of my personal doctor," he said. "I have contacted the people I met in the last 48 hours to assess whether they constitute close contact."

An antigen test followed by a PCR test confirmed his Covid-19 diagnosis this weekend, according to Fernández's medical team. The 62-year-old leader's health remains "stable, asymptomatic, with parameters within normal ranges," they said.

Argentina became the first Latin American country to distribute the Sputnik V vaccine in late December, with the purchase of up to 25 million doses.

Fernández received his first dose of that vaccine on January 21, and his second in February, a press officer at the Presidential Casa Rosada said.

It is possible to get infected and test positive for Covid-19 after being vaccinated. While vaccination reduces the likelihood of disease -- especially severe cases -- it's still unclear to what degree each coronavirus vaccine prevents all infections.

Russia's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the Sputnik V vaccine, has wished Fernández well and emphasized the shot's high protection against severe illness.

"We are sad to hear this. Sputnik V is 91.6% effective against infection and 100% effective against severe cases. If the infection is indeed confirmed and occurs, the vaccination ensures quick recovery without severe symptoms. We wish you a quick recovery!," read a message on Sputnik V's official Twitter account, citing rates published February in the medical journal The Lancet.

Argentina's initial vaccination campaign was accompanied by scandal, after revelations that a group of about 70 people had received early vaccine access, resulting in the resignation of then-health minister Ginés González García.

Fernández defended his own early vaccination as necessary and proper, he told press during a trip to Mexico in late February, although he acknowledged that the so-called "VIP vaccinations" took place under "irregular circumstances."

"The media in Argentina put Alberto Fernández among the people who received the vaccine inappropriately, but I had to get the vaccine because the Argentine media said that the Russian vaccine could not be trusted. I had to call on the trust of the citizens," he said.

With just 1.5% of the country's population now fully vaccinated, Argentina's government remains on high alert. Last week, the country suspended all incoming flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico due to increasing Covid-19 cases in those countries, according to Argentina's state-news agency Telam. Flights from the United Kingdom have also been suspended.

As of Sunday, Argentina had confirmed more than 2,383,000 cases of Covid-19, and 56,106 deaths due to the virus.

Tweeting about his diagnosis on Friday, Fernández urged the country not to let its guard down. "It is clear that the pandemic did not pass and we must continue to take care of ourselves," he wrote.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×