Although booster vaccination does not yet affect the general population, its widespread distribution in many countries around the world is likely to lead to revising the concept of fully vaccinated.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that the United States may need to revise its definition of “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 when more Americans become eligible for booster doses.

So far, anyone in the US who has received both doses of Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna or even the single-dose Johnson & Johnson is considered fully vaccinated.

The boosting doses have started to be distributed, and the third instalment has been approved for all three vaccines by the US regulator.

But “Right now we don’t have booster eligibility for all people currently,” she said during a White House COVID-19 response team press briefing.

“So we have not yet changed the definition of fully vaccinated.”

For now, however, the director of the American CDC wants to stay as it is, until at least the third installment is available to everyone.

“We will continue to look at this. We may need to update our definition of fully vaccinated in the future.”

“If you’re eligible for a booster, go ahead and get your booster and we will continue to follow,” Walensky said during the Friday news conference.

“At the moment, we do not have the ability to provide the third installment to everyone. The conditions for being considered fully vaccinated have not changed. We will continue on this wavelength.”

According to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, about 58 percent of the whole US population is currently fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

According to CDC data, approximately 6 percent of the overall population has gotten a booster dosage.

Image Credit: Getty

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