With booster shots being increasingly pushed and many institutions now requiring them, the term “fully vaccinated” is being replaced, according to White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“We’re using the terminology now ‘keeping your vaccinations up to date,’ rather than what ‘fully vaccinated’ means,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Tuesday. “Right now, optimal protection is with a third shot of an mRNA or a second shot of a J&J.”
The comments come after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot five months after the two-dose series, which is one month earlier than previously recommended. For the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the agency has not changed its recommendation for when to get a booster—six months and two months after the initial series, respectively.
“As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to update our recommendations to ensure the best possible protection for the American people,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “Following the FDA’s authorizations, today’s recommendations ensure people are able to get a boost of protection in the face of Omicron and increasing cases across the country…”
Boosters gonna be the new IOS update
— Salami (@CuredSausage) January 5, 2022
Much like the definition of 'fully vaccinated,' government officials have also changed the way vaccine mandates are discussed, preferring to use "requirements" instead.
“Mandates—that's a radioactive word. Requirements—people seem to respond better to that," Fauci told CNBC’s “Squawk Box" last month. "They work. We are never going to get out of this outbreak if we still have 50 million people who for reasons that are still very, very difficult to understand refuse to get vaccinated when you have a virus that’s killed 800,000 Americans and caused 50 million infections so if people still do not want to get vaccinated sometimes you have to for the common good make requirements.”