Friends and admirers are sending well-wishes to Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline Jackson, following news that the two have been hospitalized with COVID-19.
“Doctors are currently monitoring the condition of both,” Jackson’s nonprofit, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said in a statement Saturday.
Jackson, 79, and his 77-year-old wife are being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, the statement said. No additional information was provided on their conditions.
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Rev. Jackson was vaccinated against the virus in January. He has been a vocal advocate of COVID-19 vaccines for Black people, who have lower vaccination rates than white Americans.
The civil rights icon and two-time presidential candidate has Parkinson’s disease and was treated several months ago after undergoing gallbladder surgery.
Despite his health problems, Jackson has remained active in the fight for civil rights. On Aug. 2, he was arrested outside the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., during a protest in support of voting rights.
As news spread about his hospitalization this weekend, people across social media began to send in prayers.
“Let us all pray for Rev. and Mrs Jesse Jackson. They need our sincere and intense prayers. Prayer changes things!!!” tweeted Rev. Al Sharpton.
“Sending prayers of strength & recovery to Rev Jesse Jackson & his wife Jacqueline Folded hands,” actress Nicole Ari Parker wrote on Twitter.
“Praying for Rev. Jesse Jackson and Jacqueline Jackson,” added Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
“Sending strength, love and prayers to Rev. Jesse Jackson and Jacqueline Jackson. Please keep them in your prayers so that they may have a quick recovery,” tweeted Martin Luther King III.
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