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Are you considered fully vaccinated without the COVID-19 booster shot?

First Coast News spoke with a doctor at UF Health Jacksonville and he said the answer is yes.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — This question may have come to your mind once or twice, am I considered fully vaccinated without the COVID-19 booster shot?

First Coast News spoke with a doctor at UF Health Jacksonville and he said the answer is yes—you are considered fully vaccinated even if you have not received the COVID-19 booster shot.

According to the CDC, you are fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

But Dr. Chirag Patel, Assistant Chief Medical Officer from UF Health Jacksonville says the booster shot will still be a plus for those who want additional protection, especially while variants are still out there and cases are still rising in certain parts of the country and the risk is still real.

“When the CDC says fully vaccinated, they’re not talking about you having 100 percent protection from catching COVID. They’re talking about we feel good about you relaxing those preventative measures because you should have pretty good protection," said Patel.

Dr. Patel says that it’s important that if you want to try to maximize the amount of protection you have from either catching COVID or being hospitalized by COVID, the booster shot is the way to go.

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