Are You COVID Boosted or Fully Vaccinated? Why Language Matters

"𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗-𝟭𝟵 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱."

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟮 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗-𝟭𝟵 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗗𝗿.𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗿.𝗔𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀?  

𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗛𝗖𝗣𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵?

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲? 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱? 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲? 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱?  

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀.

Dr. Srinivas Murthy MD MASc FRCPC is  the Health Research Foundation of Innovative Medicines Canada Chair in Pandemic Preparedness Research, and co-chair of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) clinical research committee on COVID-19. He is an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at University of British Columbia, as well as a critical care and infectious diseases physician at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. Murthy’s research focuses on infectious disease, clinical practice and clinical trials, and global health. He has also worked on the frontlines for a number of infectious disease outbreaks, including work on Ebola in Liberia, West Africa.

Dr.Alon Vaisman MD MAS FRCPC is an  Infectious Diseases and Infection Control Physician at the University Health Network and  the University of Toronto.