Barack Obama Reveals He Tested Positive for COVID-19: 'Grateful to Be Vaccinated and Boosted'

The former president revealed that wife Michelle Obama is also vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, and has tested negative for the coronavirus

Barack Obama. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty

Barack Obama has tested positive for COVID-19.

The former president, 60, announced his diagnosis in a statement shared on Facebook and Twitter Sunday afternoon.

"I just tested positive for COVID. I've had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise," he wrote.

Noting that he and wife Michelle Obama are "grateful to be vaccinated and boosted," Barack also confirmed that Michelle, 58, "has tested negative."

"It's a good reminder that, even as cases go down, you should get vaccinated and boosted if you haven't already to help prevent more serious symptoms and giving COVID to others," Barack urged as he concluded his message.

Barack has been vocal about the importance of getting vaccinated since COVID-19 vaccines became available to the public last year.

The politician, who got vaccinated in March 2021, has stopped by various vaccination sites and participated in a COVID-19 vaccine PSA with all living former presidents — except Donald Trump — to encourage Americans to get vaccinated.

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"This vaccine means hope," Barack said in the PSA, which was released in early March 2021. "It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease."

Currently, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on a steady decline.

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Last March, Michelle opened up to PEOPLE about how she and Barack quarantined at home amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic with their two daughters — Malia, 23, and Sasha, 20.

She explained that the family split time between their homes in Washington, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

"Our girls were supposed to have emptied out of my nest," Michelle explained at the time. "I was sort of celebrating that they were out building their lives and allowing me the emotional space to let them go. Well, they're back!"

However, the time with the family all together, Michelle detailed, was better than she or her husband expected.

"This time has allowed us to get some stolen moments back with our girls," the former first lady said. "Those recaptured moments have meant the world to us and I think they've made our relationships with our children even stronger."

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