Covid Mission Creep: Beware the New Normal

The terms and conditions of the biomedical security state continue to shift under our feet. In a November 30 press conference, CDC director Rochelle Walensky assured the public that “we are not changing the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ right now,” with the asterisk that “as that science evolves, we will look at whether we need to update our definition.” It’s not clear what part of “the science” has evolved since then, but less than two months later, Walensky told CBS that the CDC was introducing the term “up to date”: “Right now we’re pivoting our language. If you are eligible for a booster and you haven’t gotten it, you’re not ‘up to date,’ and you need to get your booster in order to be up to date.”

These public-health proclamations, with their carefully ambiguous language, seem designed to wave off criticisms as wild-eyed conspiracy theories. Until, of course, they aren’t. In early November, Ron DeSantis was “fact-checked” by the Independent for “falsely claim[ing] vaccinated citizens without boosters could be declared unvaccinated and lose their jobs.” Today, the British paper’s assurances that “the director of the CDC says the Biden administration has no plans to reclassify vaccinated people as unvaccinated if they don’t get boosters” seem a little less sure-footed.

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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The terms and conditions of the biomedical security state continue to shift under our feet. In a November 30 press conference, CDC director Rochelle Walensky assured the public that “we are not changing the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ right now,” with the asterisk that “as that science evolves, we will look at whether we need to update our definition.” It’s not clear what part of “the science” has evolved since then, but less than two months later, Walensky told CBS that the CDC was introducing the term “up to date”: “Right now we’re pivoting our language. If you are eligible for a booster and you haven’t gotten it, you’re not ‘up to date,’ and you need to get your booster in order to be up to date.”

These public-health proclamations, with their carefully ambiguous language, seem designed to wave off criticisms as wild-eyed conspiracy theories. Until, of course, they aren’t. In early November, Ron DeSantis was “fact-checked” by the Independent for “falsely claim[ing] vaccinated citizens without boosters could be declared unvaccinated and lose their jobs.” Today, the British paper’s assurances that “the director of the CDC says the Biden administration has no plans to reclassify vaccinated people as unvaccinated if they don’t get boosters” seem a little less sure-footed.