Sarah Palin tests positive for COVID-19, delaying her defamation trial against the New York Times

• Sarah Palin's trial against the New York Times was delayed until February 3.
• Palin tested positive for COVID-19 Monday morning.

The trial for Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times will be delayed after the former vice presidential candidate tested positive for COVID-19, the judge overseeing her case announced.

Palin tested positive for an at-home rapid test Monday morning, US District Court Judge Jed Rakoff announced from the bench.

After Palin tested positive for two additional rapid tests administered by the court, Rakoff announced her trial would begin on Thursday, February 3.

"She is, of course, unvaccinated," Rakoff said after announcing Palin's first positive diagnosis earlier Monday.

Jury selection for the defamation case was scheduled to begin today, with opening arguments to start shortly afterward.

Palin has railed against safe coronavirus vaccines, saying in an interview with conservative activist Charlie Kirk in December that "It'll be over my dead body that I'll have to get a shot."

The former Alaska governor sued the Times in 2017 over an editorial that claimed she contributed toward a culture of violent rhetoric in US politics that led to the shooting of a group of Republican congressmen.

The editorial said that a political action committee controlled by Palin had, in 2011, posted an image on Facebook of several congressional districts under crosshairs, including one by Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was later shot by an anti-government extremist.

The Times corrected the story the next day, admitting that there was no established link between Palin's committee's post and the Giffords shooting. But Palin sued nonetheless, and the case is now headed to trial.

Both parties expect the trial to last a week overall.

This article has been updated.