The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to “pivot” the language on what it means to be “fully vaccinated.”
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House press briefing Friday, “In general, we see lower overall vaccine protection against Omicron, as we saw against the Delta variant,” especially with just two doses of an mRNA vaccine.
Walensky claims that COVID data shows that a third dose of the vaccine is the most effective way of dealing with the Omicron and Delta variants.
“A booster or third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine provides greater protection against symptomatic COVID-19 disease for both the Omicron variant and the Delta variant compared to the primary series alone,” Walensky said.
With the CDC recognizing the inadequacy of its previous standards for what constitutes “fully vaccinated," the CDC is making a change to how it quantifies terms.
“What we really are working to do is pivot the language to make sure that everybody is as up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccines as they personally could be, should be, based on when they got their last vaccine. So importantly, right now, we’re pivoting our language,” Walensky said. “If you are eligible for a booster and you haven’t gotten it, you’re not up-to-date, and you need to get your booster in order to be up-to-date.”
Walensky said they aren’t changing what it means to be fully vaccinated to include boosters. Instead, they are pivoting the language to make sure that everyone “stays up-to-date.”
The CDC still considers people “fully vaccinated” with two doses of a vaccine but is pushing for people to make sure they are getting booster shots, which are simply half doses of the original vaccine.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President, gave a presentation at the briefing discussing the effectiveness of the current vaccine regimen.
According to Fauci, two to four weeks after being fully vaccinated with no boosters, there is 65 to 70% protection. But 10 weeks later, you have only a 30%. Fauci claims that booster shots will bring anywhere from 45 to 70% protection.
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