AP’s Zeke Miller feeds into the “up to date” line:
5 Jan: White House: Press Briefing by White House : COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
MODERATOR: Let’s go to Zeke Miller at the AP.
Q Thanks for doing this today. For Dr. Walensky, I know (inaudible) questions about this over the last several months, but given the data you’ve discussed today about the benefits of booster doses and Dr. Fauci’s comments yesterday about, sort of, potential changes to CDC policy: Is the CDC going to change its definition of “booster doses”? Or —
And then, for Jeff: For people who are not fully ***up to date with their vaccination — meaning they’re eligible but haven’t gotten a booster — should they be expecting to see, you know, that some of the prohibitions that people who are not fully vaccinated — you know, whether it comes to travel or employment with the federal government — that they would be subject to some of those prohibitions down the line?
MR. (JEFF) ZIENTS (White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator): Dr. Walensky first.
DR. WALENSKY: Yeah, super. Thank you, Zeke. So, individuals are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if they’ve received their primary series. That definition is not changing.
But consistent with how public health has historically viewed or even talked about how we recommend vaccines, we are now recommending that individuals stay up to date with additional doses that they are eligible for. And we have now available how you can stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines based on what vaccine you have received and what age group you are in. And that is available now on the CDC website.
Back to you, Jeff.
MR. ZIENTS: So, Zeke, to repeat what Dr. Walensky just said: Someone is considered fully vaccinated if they receive their primary series of vaccines. So, if you think about the different requirements — I think you mentioned travel, the OSHA and CMS rules as other examples — that has not changed and we do not have any plans to change that.
I do think it’s really important to recognize the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated Americans. And completing the primary vaccination series is clearly a critical step to prevent severe outcomes, with boosters, as Dr. Walensky said, giving the highest level of protection. So, we will encourage everybody to get vaccinated and, when eligible, boosted.
As to the definition, someone is considered fully vaccinated if they received their primary series of vaccine.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/01/05/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-77/
***Fauce got the last word:
5 Jan: PBS Newshour: WATCH: CDC urges ‘up to date’ COVID shots but won’t change definition of ‘fully vaccinated’
The decision to keep the initial definition, established more than a year ago when the vaccines first rolled out, means that federal vaccination mandates for travel or employment won’t require a booster dose...
“Individuals are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if they’ve received their primary series,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “That definition is not changing.”...
“We are now recommending that individuals stay up to date with additional doses that they are eligible for,” Walensky added.
Similarly, Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 coordinator, said the administration was not considering an adjustment to require booster shots for international travel or for workers covered by a slew of vaccination mandates instituted by President Joe Biden to press tens of millions of Americans to get the shots.
“That has not changed and we do not have any plans to change that,” he told reporters during a White House briefing...
He added, “As to the definition, someone is considered fully vaccinated if they’ve received their primary series of vaccine.”
On Wednesday, shortly before the White House briefing, the CDC revised an agency web site that had been entitled “When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated” that defined the term and talked about what people could do after they achieved that level of protection.
It was retitled “Stay Up to Date with Vaccines,” and used the term “fully vaccinated” sparingly, to describe the primary series. Much of the site discussed additional and booster doses.
Asked about the change, a CDC spokeswoman said the definition of “fully vaccinated” has not changed. But she also said: “CDC will now use the phrase ‘up to date’ when talking about COVID-19 vaccination. CDC recommends that individuals stay ‘up to date’ by receiving any additional doses they are eligible for, according to CDC’s recommendations, to ensure they have optimal protection against COVID-19.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s top science adviser on the COVID-19 response, said Tuesday that the administration was shifting how it talked about vaccinations and getting booster doses.
***“We’re using the terminology now ‘keeping your vaccinations up to date,’ rather than what ‘fully vaccinated’ means,” he said during a National Institutes of Health lecture.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/cdc-urges-up-to-date-covid-shots-but-wont-change-definition-of-fully-vaccinated