President Donald Trump tried to turn an awkward moment into a laugh line on Tuesday, asking for a COVID medication after Health and Human Services Secretary RKF Jr. sneezed during a presser. “Bless you, Bobby… I hope I didn’t catch COVID just then,” Trump quipped in the clip, before adding, “Give me a Paxlovid.” The joke landed with a mix of chuckles and winces, not least because Paxlovid is an antiviral typically taken for mild to moderate cases in people at high risk of severe disease, and because Kennedy has spent years minimizing the pandemic’s threat.
Back in October 2020, Trump contracted COVID after months of downplaying the virus’s severity, and was treated with an experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail from Regeneron, the antiviral remdesivir, and the steroid dexamethasone, a regimen associated with more serious illness. He recovered within days, but his doctors acknowledged he’d experienced dips in oxygen levels. Paxlovid, the drug he name-dropped on Tuesday, wasn’t even authorized until late 2021 and later received full FDA approval in 2023 for adults at high risk.
Kennedy’s presence at the microphone added its own layer of irony. As HHS secretary, RFK Jr. has repeatedly drawn fire from public health experts and lawmakers over vaccine policy and pandemic messaging, prompting fact checks and even talk of impeachment from political opponents. That made Tuesday’s sneeze gag feel like a stress test for an administration still struggling to control the narrative on COVID five years after the first wave.
Trump, for his part, cast the moment in a jovial tone in a briefing that ranged from public health updates to the budget battle with Democrats. Asked about the administration’s health agenda, he pivoted to familiar claims about “fixing” Obama-era health policy while offering few specifics. The White House has argued it’s streamlining benefits and lowering costs, but critics say the moves have cut safety net programs and undermined confidence in federal guidance. That debate has only intensified with Kennedy in charge at HHS, as watchdogs track his statements and policy tweaks with unusual scrutiny.
Beyond the optics, the science is straightforward: COVID hasn’t vanished. WHO data show the virus continues to circulate worldwide, with deaths now far below peak levels but persistent enough to keep older and medically vulnerable people in the crosshairs. That’s the population for whom antivirals like Paxlovid can meaningfully reduce the risk of hospitalization, which is why doctors emphasize testing early and starting treatment quickly after symptoms begin. Jokes aside, the public health guidance remains: know your risk, get tested if you’re sick, and follow evidence-based treatment.
Still, Tuesday’s clip will have a long half-life online, partly because it highlights tensions that have dogged this White House from day one, a president eager to project swagger, a health chief famous for casting doubt on mainstream science, and a country still living with a virus that refuses to play by political rules.
The sneeze, the quip, and the name check of an antiviral became one of those social media moments, the administration trying to move on while the pandemic keeps pulling the conversation back. In the end, the punchline wasn’t about Paxlovid at all, it was about an awkward truth, COVID may be less lethal now, but it is still here.
