Should people with natural immunity be exempt from vaccine mandates? New bill introduced in Congress argues yes. Health experts say no.

Orlando Sentinel ^ | 10/24/2021 | Caroline Catherman

[SeekAndFind]

COVID-19 vaccine mandates shouldn’t apply to people with immunity acquired through infection, suggest sponsors of the ‘’Natural Immunity Is Real Act.”

Experts on bioethics and immunology disagree, and note that there is little to no debate in the scientific community about the existence of natural immunity, gained by infection from exposure to disease, rather than by vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many studies suggest natural immunity fades over time, and a vaccine improves immunity in people who have already had COVID-19.

“This is bad science, dangerous policy and saddest of all, ideology tricked out as ethics,” said Kenneth Goodman, director of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy and the Florida Bioethics Network.

The bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday by Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger, asks that federal regulations take into account natural immunity to COVID-19. Discussion by the bill’s sponsors indicates it is one of the latest objections to COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the U.S.

Tension is especially high in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced he would call a special session of the Legislature in November to ban local governments and agencies from mandating COVID-19 vaccines. He has also threatened to sue President Joe Biden’s administration over its mandate for some businesses to vaccinate or test workers for COVID-19. In the meantime, multiple Florida congressmen endorsed this bill, which is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled House. The bill has also been introduced in the Senate.

“No American should be forced to choose between getting the COVID vaccine or keeping their job,” said Florida’s eighth district Rep. Bill Posey. Posey and Rep. Daniel Webster, Florida’s 11th district representative, are co-sponsoring the bill in the house alongside nine other Republican congressmen

[DennisR]

Had Covid in January 2021. Tested for antibodies in August: 45 U/ml; retested October 2021: 55 U/ml. “No antibodies” is anything less than 0.83 U/ml.

[Semper Vigilantis]

November tests show my N protein AB has dropped from 203 to 189 and my S protein AB is still off the scale >2500.

My wife’s N went from 11 to 22, her S went from 1407 to 813.

Reference range for N is > 1.0 COI, for S it is >0.8 U/ML

We are both still way out of range.

[MayflowerMadam]

Everybody should be exempt from vaccine mandates.