Vice President Kamala Harris is ordering all senators and their guests to receive negative COVID tests if they want to take pictures with her after she administers the oath of office, Breitbart reported Sunday.
"Anyone over two years of age who will interact with the vice president" must receive a negative test "24 hours prior to interaction," a directive from Harris's office announced to anyone attending the swearing-in ceremony, which takes place on Tuesday. "This policy applies regardless of vaccination status."
Harris’s decision to mandate testing comes as Americans have become less concerned about COVID-19. Harris herself hosted a Christmas party at her Washington, D.C., residence that included celebrities and New Jersey governor Phil Murphy (D.).
Harris, who as vice president officially presides over the Senate, may have trouble persuading senators to pose with her for the camera. The veep is so unpopular that the Democratic National Committee last year slashed the price of a photo with her by two-thirds, the Washington Free Beacon reported at the time. A poll last month found that just 38 percent of Americans approve of Harris's job performance.
The photo ceremony occurs after Harris has officially sworn in senators on the Senate floor.
Some senators are "so upset they might not participate in the photo ceremony," sources told Breitbart. One individual said that "senators' children and grandchildren" should "not be subjected to this insanity so Kamala can pretend to care about fighting coronavirus."
President Joe Biden in September declared that "the pandemic is over."