After a two-week fight with the coronavirus, Jacqueline Jackson, wife of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., went home on Friday from a Chicago hospital.

The longtime couple’s son Jonathan announced the news on Rev. Jackson’s social media on Friday.

“Our mother is leaving the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and coming home. Our family is grateful to God and the medical team that treated her and that is allowing her body to continue to heal from the COVID-19 virus,” the statement read. “Our father remains at The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab where he is continuing to receive intensive occupational and physical therapy.”

Last month, both Jacksons were hospitalized after experiencing Covid symptoms. Jesse Jackson, 79, had had a complete coronavirus vaccination, but his wife, 77, had not. They’ve been together for over 60 years.

“We ask that you continue to pray for the full recovery of our parents,” Jonathan Jackson said. “We will continue to update you on a regular basis.”

Jacqueline Jackson was admitted to the hospital and spent time in the critical care unit, where she was given oxygen.

“The love that has been poured out to our family at this time of sickness and need from around the world has helped in our parent’s healing and for each of you who prayed and expressed concern we are grateful, even as we continue to express our love and concern for the millions of people who are victimized by the COVID-19 virus and its variants.,” the statement said before ending with a plea for “all who have not yet been vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus to do so immediately.”

Rev. Jackson disclosed in 2017 that he had Parkinson’s Disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2015. Jesse Jackson Jr. shared a photo of his father at the institution with the public.

According to a statement from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition at the time, Jackson received his first Covid-19 vaccine shot in January during a gathering to encourage African American confidence in vaccines.

After being hospitalized for stomach pain in February, the civil rights pioneer underwent successful surgery.

Breakthrough infections among people who have been vaccinated have been documented, mostly among the elderly or immunocompromised, due to the more deadly nature of the Delta form.

“After 400 years of slavery, segregation and discrimination, why would anybody be shocked that African Americans are dying disproportionately from the coronavirus?” Jackson said in an April statement.

He said that all previous US presidents had failed to  “end the virus of white superiority and fix the multifaceted issues confronting African Americans”.

“We know that people should honour the [social distancing] protocols, but some find it more difficult because of congested conditions or their transportation,” he told the Guardian the following month.

“A lot are untested and uninsured. If you’re uninsured, you can go to the hospitals only to be told you can’t get service, so you end up resorting to your own home remedies, or you end up in the hospital too late.

“That points to disparity in income and education and healthcare. It shows the black condition in America. The legacy of slavery and Jim Crow is very clear.”

Jackson, a protégé of Martin Luther King, was instrumental in steering the modern civil rights movement on topics such as voting rights. In 1984 and 1988, he sought for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He has remained active and travels despite his Parkinson’s diagnosis.