In December 2020, COVID-19 vaccines first became available, adding a safe and highly effective way to reduce severe complications (i.e. hospitalization or death) resulting from COVID-19 infection. However, the protection of being “fully vaccinated” after receiving the initial recommended doses decreased over the course of several months of completing the primary series. This waning immunity resulted in new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for additional doses to the primary series of vaccines for some individuals, and a booster dose for all fully vaccinated individuals to restore and sustain the protection against severe complications of the infection.
Going forward, experts advise waning immunity associated with the currently available COVID-19 vaccines will continue; and consequently, additional booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be recommended. For this reason, the CDC has adopted a new definition of “up to date,” to be inclusive of current and possibly future booster dose recommendations. For more information regarding the current CDC definition of “up to date,” visit the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine website.
In response to the CDC’s updated guidance, starting April 6, 2022 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is adding the definition of “Up To Date” to the publicly available Population COVID-19 Tracking website, as shown in the photo above.
Definitions:
- “Fully vaccinated” means the individual has received both the first and second dose of Pfizer-BNT or Moderna, or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
- “Up to date” means the individual has received all recommended doses in the primary series and one booster once eligible to receive the booster. A second booster is not necessary to be considered “up to date” at this time.
This change in vaccination reporting helps effectively communicate how well our patients and staff are protected from future COVID-19 infections.
For questions, please contact QMStaff@CDCR.ca.gov.
Thank you.