Vaccinated Democratic congressman announces he has tested positive for COVID-19

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Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr (D-NJ) announced on Twitter Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. 

"Today I tested positive for covid," the 84-year-old New Jersey Democrat tweeted. "I am fully vaccinated and boosted. Blessedly my symptoms are mild. I'm working from home. Omicron spreads like wildfire. Get vaxxed and boosted -- these shots are the *only* reason my case is mild. Don’t worry about me: get your shots!"

June 16, 2015: Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., accompanied by fellow House Democrats, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

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Pascrell’s announcement comes a week after three Senate Democrats revealed positive coronavirus tests as the omicron variant of the virus continues to spread across the country.

Delaware Senator Chris Coons, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker all tested positive for the virus in the course of a few days. Both Warren and Booker said that they were fully vaccinated. 

MIAMI, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 29: A healthcare worker conducts a test at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at the Dan Paul Plaza on December 29, 2021 in Miami, Florida.  (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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The CDC significantly reduced its estimate for how prevalent the omicron variant of COVID-19 is in the United States on Tuesday, saying that the new variant was only responsible for 22.5% of new cases in the week that ended Dec. 18, not the alarming 73.2% that it had originally estimated last week. 

For the week ending Dec. 25, the agency says omicron accounted for 58.6% of all new cases.

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Jasmine Reed, a spokesperson for the CDC, noted that there was "a wide predictive interval posted in last week’s chart," and the downward revision was partly due to the "speed at which Omicron was increasing."

FILE - People line up and receive test kits to detect COVID-19 as they are distributed in New York on Dec. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

"CDC’s models have a range, and… we’re still seeing steady increase in the proportion of Omicron," Reed told Fox News Digital. "In some regions in the country, Omicron accounts for ~ 90% or more of cases."

Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report