CDC approves boosters for all adults

Shot: Fauci says three shots is likely now the new "fully vaccinated." Chaser: CDC changed the definition of vaccines.

On Nov. 19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) approved booster shots for all adults “ages 18 years and older who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at least six months after their second dose.”

“After critical scientific evaluation, today’s unanimous decision carefully considered the current state of the pandemic, the latest vaccine effectiveness data over time, and review of safety data from people who have already received a COVID-19 primary vaccine series and booster,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

“Booster shots have demonstrated the ability to safely increase people’s protection against infection and severe outcomes and are an important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the virus as we enter the winter holidays,” Walensky said. “Based on the compelling evidence, all adults over 18 should now have equitable access to a COVID-19 booster dose.”

The announcement by the CDC came on the same day the Food and Drug Administration approved the booster.

Earlier in the week on Nov. 17, ABC News reported on remarks made by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease. His remarks imply that the “new standard” for fully vaccinated would be those who get the booster - a third shot.

“I happen to believe as an immunologist and infectious disease person that a third-shot boost for an mRNA [vaccine] … should be part of the actual standard regimen, where a booster isn’t a luxury,” Fauci reportedly said.

“A booster isn’t an add-on and a booster is part of what the original regimen should be, “ said Fauci. “So that when we look back on this, we’re going to see that boosters are essential for an optimal vaccine regimen.”

A day earlier on Nov. 16, Fauci also pitched the booster shots because hospitalizations of the already vaccinated were increasing.

"What we’re starting to see now is an uptick in hospitalizations among people who’ve been vaccinated but not boosted," Fauci said. "It’s a significant proportion, but not the majority by any means."

Fauci has come under increasing fire for his goal-post moving statements on vaccinations and masks, but most recently has been accused of lying to Congress by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) about his and his agency’s involvement in gain-of-function research that precipitated COVID-19. At the start of November, Paul called on Fauci to resign.

Fauci has also been criticized for ranting on a CBS morning talk show that a public health crisis “supersedes” a person’s individual rights to decide what is best for themselves.

"I didn't quite understand what the purpose of that was except to put this misplaced perception about people’s individual right to make a decision that supersedes the societal safety,” Fauci said.

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) also issued a press release about the booster shots.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone 18 years or older who received the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine get a booster six months after their second dose to help strengthen and extend protections against COVID-19,” the NCDHHS release states.

"I encourage all adults to get their COVID-19 booster for safer holiday gatherings with loved ones," said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen. "With the recent authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11, now nearly everyone in the family can be vaccinated or boosted. Don’t wait to vaccinate."

Later in the press release, Cohen also said, “Parents should get their children vaccinated as a safe, tested way to keep them healthy and to get them back to safely being with their family and friends.”

NCDHHS’ release also urged that anyone over the age of 50 or at high risk “should get a booster now.”

The NCDHHS release also drew inadvertent attention to the waning effect of the vaccines by promoting the idea that those who are vaccinated may contract COVID-19 but their symptoms may be milder.

“Recent studies indicate that while protection against severe disease and death remains strong for individuals who are fully vaccinated, people may be more likely to develop milder or asymptomatic COVID-19 over time,” the NCDHHS release says.

There has been some reporting and debate about just what a vaccine constitutes, including the fact that the CDC began altering the definition of the terms vaccine and vaccination sometime in 2015.

The original definition included language that vaccination was to “produce immunity to a specific disease.”

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