Fox News' Neil Cavuto reveals he survived 'life-threatening' bout of COVID-induced pneumonia

Westbury-raised Neil Cavuto returned to his Fox Business show "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" and his Fox News program "Your World" Monday after a prolonged absence he said was due to a life-threatening bout with COVID-19 induced pneumonia.

In virtually identical remarks on both shows, the Queens-born Cavuto, 62, explained parent company Fox News Media had not disclosed the reason for his absence "because I asked them not to say anything. They were honoring my wishes, out of respect for my privacy, even though they were getting a lot of heat trying to protect my privacy. I wasn't hiding anything. I just felt that it really wasn't a story."

His departure since Jan. 10 was due to a second bout of COVID-19, after recovering from the same illness caused by the coronavirus last year. "I did get COVID again, but a far, far more serious strand — what doctors call COVID pneumonia," he explained. "It landed me in intensive care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go."

Cavuto — who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1987 and the degenerative nerve disorder multiple sclerosis in 1997, and who underwent open-heart surgery in 2016 — noted that while he is vaccinated against COVID-19, he is among the immunocompromised population at high risk for the disease. "No, the vaccine didn't cause that," he informed viewers, adding, "My very compromised immune system did. Because I've had cancer and right now I have multiple sclerosis, I'm among the vulnerable three percent or so of the population that cannot sustain the full benefits of a vaccine."

Cavuto stressed, "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."

He added, "I'm not here to debate vaccinations for you. Just offer an explanation for me," saying, "I owed you that."