Fox News' Neil Cavuto, senior VP, anchor and managing editor of business news for Fox News Channel, has returned after what he called a touch-and-go, intensive care bout with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Cavuto announced last fall that he had suffered a breakthrough infection and urged viewers to get vaccinated.

Following weeks of guest hosts, who Cavuto thanked for upending their lives and covering for him, Cavuto returned to his weekday afternoon business news show show Monday.

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Fox had been mum on Cavuto's status at his request, which he explained Monday was because his show was about the news, not about him. But given that it "did drag on," he said, his viewers needed an explanation, which he gave. The following is a transcript of his explanation.

"I did get Covid again…but a far more serious strand…what they call Covid pneumonia. It landed me in Intensive Care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go. Some of you who’ve wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for! So, sorry to disappoint you," he said.

"[T]he vaccine didn’t cause this. That grassy knoll theory has come up a lot that I really have to put it to rest. My very compromised immune system did. Because I’ve had cancer and now have Multiple Sclerosis, I’m among the vulnerable three percent of the population or so that simply cannot sustain the full benefits of a vaccine. In other words, it doesn’t last.

"But let me be clear, doctors say had I not been vaccinated at all, I wouldn’t be here. It provided some defense, but that is still better than no defense. Maybe not great comfort for some of you. I've got to be honest, frankly, it was not great comfort for me either!" ■

Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network anchor Neil Cavuto told viewers of FNC's MediaBuzz to get vaccinated, and he did not mince words.

“Life is too short to be an ass," he told MediaBuzz host Howie Kurtz. "Life is way too short to be ignorant of the promise of something that is helping people worldwide.  Stop the deaths. Stop the suffering. Please, get vaccinated. Please.“

Cavuto, who according to Fox News Media is fully vaccinated, got a breakthrough COVID-19 infection diagnosis last week, but it is a mild case he attributes to that protection. Cavuto also has multiple sclerosis and other health issues, so he is immunocompromised.

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Fox has asked its employees to get vaccinated and, if not, they must be tested multiple times per week.

Cavuto told Kurtz that he wanted to urge everyone to think about others. “In the end, if you can get vaccinated and think of somebody else and think of what that could mean to them and their survivability from something like this, we'll all be better off,“ he said.  

It is generally accepted that the closer the country gets to herd immunity, the less likely both initial and breakthrough cases will occur.

While some anti-vaxxers have argued that they should not have to get a vaccination if they don't want to, and that it is an imposition on their freedom of choice, Cavuto suggested people should look at the “bigger picture” and “get outside themselves.”

“[T]here are plenty of people working around you, Howie, at Fox and all types of business environments who are susceptible to this sort of thing,” he said. “You can help them out a lot if whatever your views on mandates, and I get that, no one likes to be ordered to, but in the end if you can get vaccinated and think of someone else and think of what that could mean to them and their survivability from something like this, we'll all be better off.” 

Among those “someone elses,” Cavuto cited a competitor. “[It‘s about] people like John King of CNN, who is battling multiple sclerosis; he's vulnerable to this,“ Cavuto said. “It‘s about people in our everyday life who need to be told that getting vaccinated is a help, it's not a deterrent. It's something that will make you better and everyone around you better. To me, this is so incredible. I just say, ‘My God, get it.’ ”  

Cavuto, who has had monoclonal antibody treatment, said he is feeling better and that his wife also tested positive.

Fox News on Monday said it is revamping its daytime lineup beginning Monday, Jan. 18. 

Under the new schedule, Bill Hemmer Reports host Bill Hemmer will team with Dana Perino to host a two-hour edition of America’s Newsroom beginning at 9 a.m. At 11 a.m., Harris Faulkner will host a new show The Faulkner Focus, followed by her current news roundtable series Outnumbered at noon. 

At 1 p.m., network White House Correspondent John Roberts will join current America’s Newsroom host Sandra Smith for a new two-hour program, America Reports, while The Story, hosted by Martha MacCallum, will air at 3 p.m., followed by Your World with Neil Cavuto at 4 p.m. and The Five at 5 p.m. 

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Special Report With Bret Baier will remain in the 6 p.m. time slot, with a new series, Fox News Primetime, premiering at 7, where MacCallum's show is currently. The network will rotate a group of Fox News opinion hosts for the show before eventually settling on a permanent opinion host.

Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement that the new schedule “ensures Fox News Media will continue to deliver outstanding coverage for our viewers who depend on the most trusted names in the business.”

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Fox's Neil Cavuto has been named by the Business News Visionary Awards (BNVA) to the class of 2020. He is one of 52 business journalists to be honored and showcased weekly both online and in a book being published early next year.

Cavuto has been employed at CNBC, Fox News and Fox Business Network. As senior VP of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, Cavuto oversees a team of correspondents, anchors and producers.

"Neil recognized the potential to make broadcast business journalism understandable to every type of viewer, not just professionals," said Dean Rotbart, BNVA chair and editor in chief.

Cavuto started his career as bureau chief for The Nightly Business Report. He joined Fox Business Network in 2007 and currently hosts Cavuto: Coast to Coast as well as Cavuto Live and Your World with Neil Cavuto on Fox News.

"I think the one thing you learn from people who stand out in this industry, in any industry, is the key to their longevity is their work ethic," Cavuto said.