It’s time to redefine what ‘fully vaccinated’ means
Many Americans are still operating under the assumption that their initial vaccine series provides sufficient immunity to go about their lives as if this pandemic is over. In many places, if you provide proof of two vaccine doses, even from more than six months ago, you’re clear to attend major in-person gatherings such as conferences or concerts.
As Americans have hit the road to visit family for the holidays, the United States is enduring an epidemic of COVID-19 fatigue. Its spread is fueled, in part, because the hope that the initial vaccination series was the beginning of the end has petered out. In reality, we now know that we need to get more vaccinations and implement (or re-implement) more protective measures to prevent hundreds of thousands of potential additional deaths. At the top of that list of actions is redefining what it means to be “fully vaccinated.”
The Biden administration recently unveiled a plan to combat COVID-19 this winter, with booster shots as a centerpiece. It’s a welcome action, but Americans are weary after nearly two years of changing advice and mandates, even though those changes have been well-intentioned and incorporated new, more accurate knowledge about the virus and its habits. Given some of the skepticism infecting jaded Americans, our leaders need to provide more clarity about why boosters are a necessity, not just a suggestion.
We now know that the COVID-19 vaccines’ protection against infection diminishes over time. While vaccinated people still boast strong protection against severe disease and death, by six months after the mRNA vaccines and two months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, individuals are more likely to get infected than they were right after their shots, albeit still less likely than unvaccinated people.
The good news is that studies show boosters can prime peoples’ immune systems and restore significant protection against infection from the delta variant. Preliminary reports from Israel, and a recent lab study by Pfizer suggest that boosters can also protect people against the omicron variant, now the most dominant strain in the U.S, although health experts still need to gather more information.
Many Americans are still operating under the assumption that their initial vaccine series provides sufficient immunity to go about their lives as if this pandemic is over. In many places, if you provide proof of two vaccine doses, even from more than six months ago, you’re clear to attend major in-person gatherings such as conferences or concerts. That may be a mistake, as evidenced by a Christmas party in Norway where around 70 percent of the 100 vaccinated participants (the vast majority of whom had received two doses of an mRNA vaccine) were infected with COVID-19.
Breakthrough infections may not result in serious complications for most people, but the fact that protection against infection lessens over time is cause for concern. It makes efforts to contain the virus more difficult.
Nearly 100 million Americans are due for a booster and have not gotten it yet. While a quarter of vaccinated adults have received a booster shot, one in five say they probably or definitely won’t. Millions of those people could unwittingly expose vulnerable family members, friends and neighbors — whether they’re immunocompromised or young, unvaccinated children — to the virus. COVID’s variants are tenacious survivors with no qualms about disrupting our daily lives, forcing parents to keep kids home from school because of an outbreak, or forcing hospitals to put elective procedures on hold because of strains on staffing and capacity.
While we continue urging more people to start the vaccination process, the Biden administration and other public health officials need to make sure the American people hear and understand that if you’re 16 or older and six months out from your second Pfizer or Moderna shot (or two months after a J&J shot) you are not “fully vaccinated” and need a booster. Then, it’s up to all of us to get those shots.