In its recently updated guidance on exposure to COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) treats double jabbed individuals that have not received a booster shot the same as unvaccinated ones.
“For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days,” the updated guidance reads. “Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure.”
The move to change the definition of “fully vaccinated” by the federal health agency was predicted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last month. During a press conference in Tallahassee, the Republican governor told attendees that “those individuals who have gone through a normal vaccination series for COVID …will be determined to be unvaccinated very soon.”
“They will do that – they are gonna tell you: ‘you’re unvaccinated and you have to get a booster,’” he said, adding that those who choose not to get a booster “could potentially face loss of employment or other types of penalties.”
The comments sparked outcry from legacy media fact-checkers, who were quick to label the governor’s prediction as false. Writing in The Independent, Andrew Feinberg penned an article titled “Fact Check: DeSantis falsely claims vaccinated citizens without boosters could be declared unvaccinated and lose their jobs,” in which he claims that DeSantis was “lying about the possibility that Covid-19 boosters will be used to force people out of their jobs.”
“Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky has repeatedly denied that the Biden administration plans to consider people who do not get boosters to be unvaccinated.” he wrote.
In addition to the recently updated guidelines, government health officials have also publicly indicated that such a change in definition would ultimately occur. During a CNN interview earlier this month, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci foreshadowed that changing the definition of fully vaccinated to include booster shots is a matter of “when, not if.”
“I don’t see that changing tomorrow or next week, but certainly if you want to talk about what optimal protection is, I don’t think anybody would argue that optimal protection is going to be with a third shot,” he said. “For me, as a public health person, I just say get your third shot – forget about what the definition is. I just want to see people be optimally protected.”
Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a student at the University of Mary Washington, where he plans to major in Political Science and minor in Journalism. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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