Real Time taping scrapped as Bill Maher tests positive for COVID-19

This week's taping of Real Time With Bill Maher has been canceled after its eponymous host tested positive for COVID-19.

Bill Maher, who is fully vaccinated and currently asymptomatic, tested positive during weekly staff testing, according to an announcement from the HBO talk show. Maher "feels fine," the show said, and no other staff or crew members have tested positive at this time.

The production "has taken every precaution following COVID CDC guidelines," the show added, and the episode "will be rescheduled at a later date."

The CDC has stressed that while the vaccines currently approved for use against COVID-19 are highly effective, they are not 100 percent foolproof when it comes to preventing infection. But people who have been vaccinated are also less susceptible to severe disease and less likely to transmit the virus should they become infected.

The episode that was scheduled to air on May 14 was supposed to feature a one-on-one, in-studio interview with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

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