In Wednesday's Press Briefing by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, Dr. Fauci teased the "potential future requirement" for another booster dose, something that he said is being "very carefully monitored in real time," whatever that means.
FAUCI: "The potential future requirement for an additional boost, or a fourth shot...is being very carefully monitored in real time..." pic.twitter.com/PCMRy50BvV
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2022
The "potential future requirement" would be a fourth shot for those who received mRNA vaccines and a third shot for those who took the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Fauci explained. "Recommendations, if needed, will be updated according to the data as it evolves," he added nonspecifically.
In the same briefing, Fauci said that "the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak continue to point in a sharp downward direction" but that "vaccination and boosting will be critical in maintaining that downward trajectory." Conveniently, Fauci's slide on the subject didn't have any mention of natural immunity in those who have already been infected.
For those keeping tally at home, we're now apparently looking at four doses of a vaccine in the span of less than one year since the vaccines became widely available. Those who've warned that receiving COVID vaccines may become something of an annual event might want to update that to predictions of a quarterly occurrence if Fauci gets his way.
And while the CDC and Biden administration haven't totally changed the definition of "fully vaccinated" to include a booster shot, they have adjusted their language around being "up to date" on vaccines to mean boosted if within the timeframe to receive another dose. Multiple schools and companies have, however, pushed ahead with vaccine mandates even as President Biden's OSHA mandate for private employers was struck down by the Supreme Court.
Georgetown University, for example, required students and staff to be fully vaccinated and boosted before classes began for the spring semester. Other companies also require staff to be boosted in order to stay in compliance with their vaccine requirements. If Fauci follows through on what he teased on Tuesday, does that mean all those employees would need to get another dose in order to stay employed? Will Fauci's apparent desire to turn Americans' deltoids into Swiss cheese ever end?
The briefing then turned into something of a pep rally for President Biden as White House COVID Response Coordinator Jeff Zients claimed that the "President's COVID plan is clearly working, and we believe the American people will be well served by our deliberate and thorough approach to planning for the future."
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2022
"The President's COVID plan is clearly working." pic.twitter.com/1ugfM7yuhG
What part of Biden's promise that vaccinated Americans can get rid of a mask, only to find themselves again subject to mask mandates, sounds "deliberate and thorough," exactly? Do they remember Biden missed his Independence Day goal for vaccinations? Or how the Delta and Omicron variants led Biden to throw up his hands and say there isn't a federal solution to the pandemic?
Zients also claimed that CDC is "clearly in the lead" on "masking guidance," something else that is contradicted by the growing number of local governments that have already lifted mask mandates within their jurisdiction.
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2022
"The CDC is clearly in the lead here on the substance and the timing of masking guidance." pic.twitter.com/mkBdpzhAfT
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