According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ could soon change to include booster shots of vaccines.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes fully vaccinated individuals as those who have received two doses of a 2-dose vaccine or one dose of a single-dose vaccine. However, this might soon change. In a recent interview with Reuters, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the definition could change to include booster shots. This would mean three shots of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine and two shots of single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
We’d like to get as many people who were originally vaccinated with the first regimen boosted.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The recent rise in breakthrough infections and reports of waning immunity has caused multiple countries to begin administering booster doses to at-risk individuals. Dr. Fauci believes the recent data on COVID-19 booster doses further adds to the benefits of a third shot. Moreover, experts believe that COVID-19 could soon become an endemic disease, always circulating at low levels in the population.
What About the Global Vaccine Crisis?
Approximately 36.6 million Americans have already received a booster dose. The current government has also made boosters eligible for all U.S. adults. Moreover, many European countries are now enforcing booster doses to their people. However, health experts believe this further adds to the global vaccine crisis.
In a recent media briefing, WHO’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that six times more boosters are being administered globally than primary doses in low-income countries. This threatens WHO’s target of vaccinating 40% of every country’s population by the end of the year. Furthermore, as wealthy countries continue to stockpile vaccines, low-income countries continue to wait for doses.
It makes no sense to give boosters to healthy adults, or to vaccinate children, when health workers, older people and other high-risk groups around the world are still waiting for their first dose.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
The WHO chief further emphasized the need for countries to focus on other preventive measures and not completely rely on vaccines. Although vaccines reduce cases and deaths, they don’t fully prevent transmission. A fact that is visible in the high number of cases in countries with high vaccination rates. Therefore, he called on wealthy nations to adopt a ‘combination approach’ comprising of mask mandates and other health precautions.
Source: Reuters
