NEW YORK – Vice President Kamala Harris' live interview on “The View” was abruptly delayed Friday after two hosts of the talk show learned they had tested positive for COVID-19 moments before Harris was to join them on the set.
Cohost Sunny Hostin and guest host Ana Navarro were at the table for the start of the show, but then were told to step off the set. Hostin and Navarro had been vaccinated, their colleagues said.
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Harris, who was to be seated there as well, instead was later interviewed remotely from a different room in the ABC studio in New York. She did not have any contact with either host who tested positive, according to a White House official.
Cohosts Joy Behar and Sara Haines remained on set and conducted the truncated interview.
“Sunny and Ana are strong women and I know they are fine,” said Harris when she made her delayed appearance. “But it also really does speak to the fact that they are vaccinated and vaccines make all the difference because otherwise we'd be concerned about hospitalization and worse.”
The moment underscored the ever-present dangers of COVID-19 and provided a sobering reminder of the virus' reach.
It also threatened to overshadow the Biden administration's efforts to show progress in battling the virus. Just a few hours earlier, President Joe Biden urged those now eligible for COVID-19 booster shots to get the added protection a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the doses for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans.
“Ana and Sunny, at the last minute we realized they have tested positive for COVID so they have been taken off of the show," said a stunned Behar, who made the announcement after the show hurriedly went to a commercial when the two hosts were pulled off seat. Behar said Harris was removed to a separate location because “they don’t want to take a chance.”
“It’s very important we keep her healthy and safe,” Behar said. “The Secret Service is doing things to make her feel safe.”
Both the show and aides from the vice president's office wanted to go ahead with the interview and contact tracing was quickly done to make sure Harris would not be exposed to anyone who might have had contact with Navarro and Hostin, officials said. The Secret Service then signed off on using a separate location in the studio.
The vice president carried on with her day after the TV appearance, meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Washington.
Before Harris was connected for “The View” interview, Behar and Haines vamped to fill the time and took questions from the audience.
“Sara and I are doing a little tap dancing,” Behar said.
At one point, an audience member asked what moments stood out in her many years on “The View.”
“This one is definitely,” Behar replied. “One thing about working in television, is there’s never a dull moment. ... But this is a new one.”
None of the hosts were masked but members of the studio audience were wearing face coverings.
Biden was elected on the central promise of managing the nation's response to the pandemic and received high early marks for quickly moving to distribute the vaccines. But over the summer, the highly contagious delta variant sent cases skyrocketing again, causing a number of jurisdictions to reinstitute mask mandates.
The president has grown increasingly frustrated at the Americans who have refused the vaccine and endangered the nation's recovery. More Americans, according to polling, have also begun to sour on his handling of the pandemic.
“The refusal to get vaccinated have cost all of us,” Biden said earlier Friday. “It is not hyperbole: it is literally a tragedy. Don’t let it be your tragedy.”
Biden applauded the recommendation by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky — who overruled an advisory panel — to include approval of boosters for health-care workers or have another job that puts them at increased risk of being exposed to the virus. The panel had limited approval to those over 65 years old and those with underlying health conditions.
The positive cases also stepped on what was to be a moment in the spotlight for Harris, who had participated in only a handful of televised interviews since taking office. She has come under some scrutiny after some uneven performances in other interviews, and as the administration has taken sharp criticism of images of Border Patrol agents using aggressive tactics against Haitian migrants at the Texas border.