Chelsea Manning tests positive for COVID-19

Chelsea Manning, a former Army analyst who leaked classified military information, announced on Friday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week despite being fully vaccinated.

“On September 14th I tested positive for Coronavirus after accompanying a friend who had cold-like symptoms to get tested. I immediately quarantined, consulted a doctor, and have since developed symptoms,” Manning said in a statement, noting that she had to quarantine until Oct. 1. 

“I’m fine and thankfully due to the benefits of the vaccine my symptoms are very mild. My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering and grieving as a result of this horrible virus and I look forward to a day when we can put all of this behind us,” she added.

She also emphasized the effectiveness of masking and vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the prevalence of misinformation around the coronavirus. Manning appeared to reference the rap artist Nicki Minaj in her comments. Minaj expressed reservations about the vaccine this week, and came under criticism.

“While I may not share the same influence as a multi-platinum recording artist, I recognize the importance of transparency, and recognize the threat misinformation poses to the health and wellbeing of diverse communities both online and off,” Manning said. “So I’ll just say this … vaccines work, masks work, testing works, healthcare is a right, and we all need to support each other.”

In 2013, the former Army analyst was found guilty of theft and espionage for leaking sensitive information regarding the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and was originally sentenced to 35 years. 

In 2017, her sentence was commuted by then-President Obama and in 2020, she was released from jail. In 2019, Manning was again sent to jail after refusing to testify in front of a grand jury, which was considering indicting WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, but she was later released in 2020