U.S. Senator Roger Wicker speaks to media on behalf of Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith after her debate against Mike Espy inside the Farm Bureau Federation auditoriumTuesday, November 20, 2018. Credit: Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced in a release Thursday morning.

Wicker sought a test after experiencing mild symptoms, his spokesman Phillip Waller said in a statement.

“Senator Wicker is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, is in good health, and is being treated by his Tupelo-based physician,” Waller said. “He is isolating, and everyone with whom Senator Wicker has come in close contact with recently has been notified.”

Wicker, the 70-year-old Republican, has served Mississippi in the Senate since 2007. He previously served in the U.S. House.

Wicker has encouraged Mississippians to get vaccinated for COVID-19, and called vaccinations “a miracle shot.”

“Each new shot in the arm will help our state and the nation finally put this pandemic behind us,” Wicker said in March.

Wicker is the second breakthrough case reported in the Senate, with vaccinated Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina testing positive earlier this month.

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Geoff serves as Politics and Government Editor, working closely with Mississippi Today leadership on editorial strategy and investigations. Pender joined the Mississippi Today team in 2020, bringing 30 years of political and government reporting experience to the newsroom.

Previously, Pender served as Politics and Investigative Editor at The Clarion Ledger, where he also penned a popular political column. While at The Clarion Ledger, Pender helped lead digital transformation for the legacy publication, while overseeing watchdog news teams and government reporting. He previously served as an investigative reporter and political editor at the Sun Herald, where he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for Hurricane Katrina coverage. Originally from Florence, Mississippi, Pender is a journalism graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and has received numerous awards throughout his career for reporting, columns and freedom of information efforts.