UK redefines “fully vaccinated” to require booster shots… and your compliance is not optional

 The United Kingdom has redefined the term “fully vaccinated” to include booster shots.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a press briefing that Britons will definitely need a booster dose of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines to be considered “fully vaccinated.” He added that the concept will need to be adjusted, given that vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time.

“On boosters, it’s very clear that getting three jabs – getting your booster – will become an important fact. It will make life easier for you in all sorts of ways, and we will have to adjust our concept of what constitutes a full vaccination to take account of that,” Johnson said.

“As we can see from what’s happening, the two [vaccine doses] sadly do start to wane, so we’ve got to be responsible and reflect that fact in the way we measure what constitutes full vaccination.”

The prime minister also called on Britons to get their booster doses as soon as they are eligible. Johnson said: “It would be an utter tragedy if, after everything we have been through, people who had done the right thing by getting double-vaccinated ended up being seriously ill or even losing their lives because they allowed their immunity to wane.”

Johnson’s remarks followed the British government concurring with the country’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI). The JCVI advised the expansion of the U.K. booster dose program to those aged 40 to 49, which Downing Street accepted on Nov. 15.

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said of the JCVI’s guidance: “We know immunity to COVID-19 begins to wane after six months, and new data published today shows a third dose boosts protection against symptomatic infection to more than 90 percent. This highlights just how important it is that everyone eligible gets their top-up jabs as soon as possible.”  

The British government plans to add the booster shots to the COVID-19 digital passport of the National Health Service.

Israel now preparing for third – and fourth – booster doses

Aside from the U.K., the Middle Eastern country of Israel also changed how it defines fully vaccinated. Despite being one of the most vaccinated nations in the world, it still saw many COVID-19 infections. Thus, Israeli authorities went a step ahead and mandated more vaccine booster doses for its population.

Back in August, more than a million Israelis received their third vaccine booster dose. Data from the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH) showed “promising” effects following the third dose, with injected Israelis receiving 2.5 times more protection than those injected with the standard two doses. The protection appears about a week following the third dose injection, the ministry added.  

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet said in a joint statement with the MOH: “We’ve reached a million citizens who have taken responsibility for themselves and their surroundings, and gotten their third vaccination. That’s a wonderful figure and a great achievement, but there’s a lot of work still to be done.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said that the COVID-19 vaccination “is the most effective method we have to battle the [B16172] delta variant [and] to protect our health, our economy and our daily routine.”

The fact that booster shots are becoming a must puts the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines into question. In fact, Israel is currently preparing its vaccine supply in case a fourth dose becomes necessary.

MOH Director-General Nachman Ash revealed this fact during an interview with Radio 103FM. He said: “We don’t know when it will happen. I hope very much that it won’t be within six months like this time and that the third [booster] dose will last for longer.”

Ash noted that the booster shots injected in August appeared to have halted a surge of COVID-19 infections. An article by i24 News from July shed additional light on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine’s waning protection.

Israel used the mRNA vaccine on the majority of its population. According to a July 22 MOH report, the vaccine only showed a 39 percent effectiveness against the delta strain.

Furthermore, the report showed that Israelis injected with the vaccine in April now only have 75 percent protection against COVID-19 transmission. Those injected in March 2021 are now only 67 percent protected, while those vaccinated in February 2021 are only 44 percent protected. Israelis who got the vaccine at the start of the year only have 16 percent protection against COVID-19.