Many definitions have been provided to help individuals understand what it means to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights it as a procedure where all three vaccine doses are completed. However, one might wonder if this is the ultimate definition that has been presented, or will it alter as time passes?
The answer was deliberately presented on Squawk Box to CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin by the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci. He stated that it is a sensitive issue that will remain in discussions each time, and it is done for businesses as it might be the need of the hour shortly.
Fauci further said that the most acceptable vaccination form would include a booster. If people think it is the only solution, they should go for it to achieve this ultimate protection goal.
Being ‘fully vaccinated’ against the various variants of COVID-19 offers Americans a set of liberties. It would serve as a license for people of different age groups to go out. For adults, it is a security that assures their work. For families, it is a visa that unravels their chances of travelling internationally. It acts as a certificate that permits them to attend school for children.
However, the current definition has faced severe criticism due to several shortcomings. In October, New York City Fire Department members protested against the requests for vaccines required for city workers. The same was done in June by the workers of Houston Methodist Hospital.
But what could be done now to undermine the challenges that are faced? Can it clarify the answers by altering the challenges that pay heed to them?
Altering the definition is an arduous task.
The CDC’s interim clinical considerations define ‘fully vaccinated’ as one who has accomplished dual doses of Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna or a single shot of Johnson Johnson.
Last week, the CDC’s website highlighted that the booster dose should not be considered a must as it might not be suitable for public health.
Previously, Dr. Scott Gottleib, a former FDA commissioner on Squawk Box, told CNBC’s Rebecca Quick that states, local jurisdictions, and private ventures could present varying definitions of being fully vaccinated before the federal government. One among them is to include a booster dose.
Gottlieb added that although the states face a more challenging fully vaccinated time, booster vaccination should be authorized urgently based on its need and hoped that the FDA would approve it sooner. The federal government faces many hurdles in legalizing the booster so that it might be licensed in the following year.
In the future, the definition of “fully vaccinated” could change for two reasons. First, the FDA might approve a vaccine or amend an emergency use authorization (EUA) if vaccine makers seek approval. Second, Johnson & Johnson, one of the leading vaccine manufacturers in the United States, may seek to get its vaccines approved or modify its EUAs to move from a single dose to two doses of its vaccine.
The FDA has approved only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the United States. Until recently, labelling was limited to a two-dose primary series; however, Nancy Allen LaPointe, a health professor at Duke University, recently noted that, based on submitted data, it could eventually extend labelling to a three-dose series.
Regarding all vaccine products and their uses, the EUAs already cover the authorizations for booster doses for all adults (including Pfizer boosters for 16 and 17 years). LaPointe added that the CDC could revise its guidance further to encourage boosters more decisively as more data becomes available.
In the case of the CDC, they can revise recommendations but must adhere to the constraints of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUAs) and the biologics license applications (BLAs). In addition, she said that our understanding of this disease might lead to the recommendation of evolving as time goes on.
Regarding vaccination schedules, everyone is going through the process at a different pace, so we do not know whether or not additional booster doses will be needed.
The CDC stands on its definition of “full vaccination.”
Physicians and scientists call on the Biden administration to change the U.S. vaccination guidelines. They say that people should be considered fully vaccinated for more than six months after completing their second dose.
During his appearance on CNN’s Pamela Brown on Saturday morning, CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, said the government should extend the window to four months and allow people who are four months away from the second next shot to receive an additional shot to be boosted.
During a White House briefing Wednesday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky declined to provide specific details on whether or when the agency would change the definition of “fully vaccinated”, saying that data is being evaluated and recommendations will be updated “as necessary.”
To CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Walensky said the definition currently consists of two doses of an mRNA vaccine and a single dose of the J&J vaccine. Walensky said, “We will continue to follow this science, which is evolving daily.” He added, “We will keep reviewing the data as it evolves, updating our recommendations accordingly.”
In the same briefing, Forch said booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine may help improve protection against the Omicron mutant, and there is no need for a mutant-specific booster dose at this time.
According to Dr. Fauci, the Pfizer/BioNTech Coronavirus vaccine provides significantly lower protection against symptomatic Omicron infection than the Delta variant. Still, a booster dose increases the efficacy against Omicron to 75%. Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell on Wednesday: “I’ve always said this is a three-dose vaccine.”
Hotez explained that virus-neutralizing antibodies increase by 30 to 40 times after the third dose. As a result, there is more spillover protection against new variants, including Omicron. So, in this way, the third dose protects against symptomatic illness for 70% to 75%.
According to University of Minnesota professor Michael Osterholm, who spoke with CNN’s John King, the definition of being “fully vaccinated” may change shortly. We now understand why the booster is so essential. It can affect the severity of an illness caused by either Delta or Omicron. The booster helps prevent disease, and it’s only a matter of time before the recommendation for boosters changes.
