Rev Jesse Jackson: Civil rights leader in hospital with Covid-19

Rev Jackson had previously urged other Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19, according to a statement released on Saturday. AP.

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Rev Jesse Jackson, a famed civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, and his wife are being treated in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.

Jesse Jackson, 79, is vaccinated against the virus and received his first dose in January during a publicised event as he urged others to receive the inoculation as soon as possible.

He and his wife, 77, are being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

“Doctors are currently monitoring the condition of both,” according to a statement from Jesse Jackson’s non-profit organisation, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

“There are no further updates at this time,” the statement said. “We will provide updates as they become available.”

A protege of Dr Martin Luther King, Mr Jackson was key in guiding the modern civil rights movement on numerous issues, including voting rights.

Despite having been diagnosed for Parkinson’s disease, Jackson has remained active, and has advocated for Covid-19 vaccines for Black people, who lag behind white people in the United States’ vaccination drive.

Earlier this month, he was arrested outside the US Capitol during a demonstration calling for Congress to end the filibuster in order to support voting rights.