Fox News' Neil Cavuto Returns After Battle with COVID-19 Pneumonia

Neil Cavuto at Fox Business Network Studios on September 30, 2019 in New York City.
(Image credit: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

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.

Also: Suffering Breakthrough COVID-19, Fox News Channel‘s Neil Cavuto Urges Vaccination

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!" ■

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.