Dr. Anthony Fauci says it's is a matter of "when, not if" the definition of "fully vaccinated" will change to include a third booster shot.
"I don’t see that changing tomorrow or this week, or next week," Fauci told CNN’s "At This Hour" on Wednesday. "But certainly, when you want to talk about optimal protection, I don’t think anyone would argue that optimal protection is with a third shot."
He emphasized that "whether or not it officially gets changed in the definition, I think that will be considered literally on a daily basis. That’s always on the table.”
Fauci added that in his personal opinion, "it’s going to be a matter of when, not if" the definition changes.
Just last month, the White House chief medical adviser said health officials may change the definition of "fully vaccinated" to include the booster shot if the data suggests it should be done to save lives, according to Fox News.
He added that "people should not be put off by the fact that as time goes by and we learn more and more about the protection that we might modify the guidelines."
Facui stressed that "that's what we’ve been saying all along by follow the science, things change and you have to follow the data."
A few days after those statements, Fauci’s "might" became "on the table" when he said that "Right now, officially, fully vaccinated equals two shots of the mRNA and one shot of the J&J, but without a doubt that could change'" adding "that's on the table for discussion," according to Reuters.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.