President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, said the president contracted the KP.2.3 variant. It marks the third time Biden has contracted the virus even though he has received numerous vaccines and boosters. The fact that he repeatedly contracted the virus despite his multiple inoculations would be the latest example of the efficacy of the vaccines being oversold to the public. 

However, what does Biden’s latest COVID-19 diagnosis say about the efficacy of vaccinations and boosters?

The hostility over vaccines in the country’s political discourse has long subsided. But flashback to when Biden and Democrats were pressuring people to get the vaccines and claiming that doing so would prevent someone from contracting the disease or spreading it to another person. Recall that during a town hall in July 2021, Biden said, “You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.” Biden’s statement was debunked long ago and is an example of one of the numerous lies he made during his time in office.

Another example was when Rochelle Walensky, the then-director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in March 2021 during an interview on MSNBC, that vaccinated people “don’t carry the virus” and “don’t get sick.” Again, this was also debunked a long time ago, and it has since been established that the vaccines do offer some protection against contracting the virus but far from the initial projections many of the nation’s leaders and experts suggested. 

But with Biden getting COVID-19 three times in the last two years and with the White House clarifying that he was up to date on his vaccinations, or boosted, it raises some questions on the vaccines and boosters. Getting COVID-19 at a rate greater than once per year does not inspire a lot of confidence for the public to continue to get vaccinated with hopes of being immune to the virus.

However, it should also suggest, based on a recent study, that the expectations of being vaccinated and boosted should seemingly shift from acting as an impenetrable wall of sorts that protects people from getting or spreading the virus to the vaccines preventing people from experiencing lingering harmful health problems, such as long COVID, or at least lessening the severity of the symptoms.

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For example, a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed there was a “70% drop in long COVID cases due to vaccination.” So there is an argument to be made that vaccines are beneficial, but that argument is not predicated on the thought that getting the vaccine will prevent someone from contracting the virus altogether — which is what was originally said. Unfortunately, this perception still dominates many of the people’s views on the efficacy of vaccines. It would probably help if there were more public statements on how the perception of the benefits of vaccines should be shifted to focus on preventing long-term negative health problems. 

However, given that the experts and leaders were, shall we say, less than candid at the height of the pandemic, it would be hard to imagine vaccine detractors believing anything. And having the president get COVID-19 three times in two years does little to remove such skepticism.