Democratic lawmaker vaccinated for COVID-19 tests positive

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) has tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday afternoon after a member of his staff tested positive for the virus.

“This afternoon U.S. Representative Stephen F. Lynch received a positive test result for COVID-19 after a staff member in the Congressman’s Boston office had tested positive earlier in the week,” Molly Rose Tarpey, a spokesperson for Lynch said in a statement, according to CNN.

Tarpey said that Lynch plans to isolate and will vote by proxy over the coming week, the news outlet reported. He remains asymptomatic.

Lynch had received a second dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and tested negative before attending President Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, according to CNN.

Lynch’s office didn’t immediately return a request for The Hill.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says it takes “a few weeks” for the body to build immunity after vaccination, meaning that a person could be exposed just before or right after the jab and still get sick. 

Lynch is the latest lawmaker to test positive for COVID-19 this month. Several Democratic lawmakers said they tested positive after the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, stating that their GOP colleagues refused to wear masks while they were forced to gather together in an undisclosed, secure location.

Dozens of Capitol Police officers have also tested positive for COVID-19 in the wake of the riots.