While the Biden administration continues to increase access to vaccinations and testing, Republicans are undermining progress by doubling down on harmful actions that prolong the pandemic in order to score political points. Republicans and their allies are playing politics with people’s lives, launching legal attacks on CMS and OSHA’s vaccine and testing requirements which would protect millions of American workers.
Even as the Omicron variant sweeps across the nation, Republicans are spreading disinformation and slowing down vaccinations, making false claims that “natural” immunity acquired by getting sick is better protection than immunity provided by vaccines. New research released just last week shows how ridiculous this assertion is – natural immunity is less consistent and less effective against Omicron reinfections than immunity provided by vaccines. Republicans continue to knowingly push this falsehood, however, and should be ashamed of their brazen political plays in the face of so much needless suffering.
Just this week Senator Paul embarrassingly claimed in a “Fox News” interview that a majority of people in the hospital with Covid-19 are already vaccinated, even though unvaccinated people are 12 times more likely to be hospitalized than the vaccinated. “This is Dr. Fauci’s fault largely because he’s still hysterically talking about mandates and shutting people down and not letting people fly and blaming the unvaccinated. Everybody’s getting this, vaccinated and unvaccinated. In fact the majority of the people in the hospital are vaccinated.”
But that wasn’t the beginning of his dangerous claims about Covid-19, and it won’t be his last:
Rand Paul Is A Longtime Vaccine Skeptic. In 2015 while running for president, Rand Paul repeatedly stated his belief that all vaccinations should be “voluntary” and alleged that he has “heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.” At a hearing in 2019, Paul doubled down, railing against government-mandated measles vaccines, suggesting they infringe on personal rights. Paul claimed at the time that he personally supports vaccinations, “but I still do not favor giving up on liberty for a false sense of security.”
January 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Falsely Told People Who Have Been Vaccinated Or Recovered From Covid To “Throw Your Mask Away And Tell Dr. Fauci To Take A Leap.” In a January appearance on Laura Ingraham, Rand Paul recklessly advised people who have been vaccinated or who have recovered from a Covid-19 infection that, “If you’ve had the disease or you’ve been vaccinated and you’re several weeks out of your second dose, throw your mask away and tell Dr. Fauci to take a leap because, once you have immunity, you don’t need to do this.”
May 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Refused To Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19. Rand Paul told a conservative radio host on WABC that he is not getting vaccinated because he has already had Covid-19 and has “natural immunity.” Paul said he won’t change his mind unless “they show me evidence that people who have already had the infection are dying in large numbers or being hospitalized or getting very sick.” Experts at the CDC and WHO have found that although recovered Covid patients have some degree of immunity from the disease, we don’t know how long it lasts and people who have had the virus can still benefit from being vaccinated.
May 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Accused Researchers At The Wuhan Institute Of Virology Of “Juicing Up Super Viruses” In Collaboration With The NIH And Anthony Fauci. In a May 11, 2021 Senate hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul asked questions about the origins of Covid-19 and claimed some in the government weren’t interested in investigating the lab-leak theory. Paul said that “government authorities, self-interested in continuing gain-of-function research say there’s nothing to see here.” He went on to assert a tie between U.S. researchers and the Wuhan Institute of Virology and accused them of “juicing up super-viruses.”
May 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Said That Dr. Fauci And Others “Could Be Culpable For The Entire Pandemic” If The Virus Emerged From A Wuhan Lab. In a “Fox and Friends” interview Rand Paul admitted that he didn’t know whether the Covid-19 virus came from a lab. Nobody knows,” Paul said. But he posited that if it did, Fauci, among others, “could be culpable for the entire pandemic.”
June 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Called Dr. Fauci An “Elitist” And Said Americans Are “Smart Enough To Make Our Own Decisions” About Vaccination. At an appearance in Greensburg, Kentucky, Rand Paul said Americans should make their own decisions on whether to be vaccinated: “We don’t really need people who believe in some sort of elitism to tell us what to do.I think we’ve got pretty good sense.” Paul told his constituents that Dr. Fauci was “busy being political” and “elitist,” adding: “We’re smart enough to make our own decisions.”
July 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Referred Dr. Fauci To The Justice Department For “Lying” To Congress. During a Senate hearing, Rand Paul asked Dr. Fauci if he would like to retract a statement from a May 2021 testimony regarding Dr. Fauci’s denial that funding from the National Institute of Health went towards controversial research that Paul claims contributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci reiterated that “I have not lied before Congress. I have never lied. Certainly not before Congress. Case closed.” Following the exchange, Rand Paul referred Dr. Fauci to the Justice Department for lying under oath to Congress.
August 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Suspended From YouTube For Claiming Masks Are Ineffective Against Covid-19. Rand Paul received a seven day suspension from YouTube after posting a video claiming masks are ineffective in fighting Covid-19. Responding in a tweet, Paul said he wore the suspension as a “badge of honor” and called the people at YouTube “leftwing cretins.”
September 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Says Dr. Fauci “Deserves A Five Year Prison Sentence.” During a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Rand Paul escalated his claims that Dr. Fauci lied to Congress by saying “It’s a felony punishable by five years in jail. I don’t think Biden Department of Justice will do anything with it, but … it is very dangerous to have public officials who we need to have trust incoming and lying to us. But he has lied dozens of times. Usually, he tells us it’s for our own good.”
November 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Calls On Dr. Fauci To Resign After Disagreement On Origin Of Covid-19 Pandemic. During a Senate hearing, Rand Paul accused Dr. Fauci of lying about the National Institute of Health funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan and called upon him to resign: “You won’t admit that it’s dangerous, and for that lack of judgment I think it’s time that you resign.”
November 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Says It Is “Absolute Hubris” For Dr. Fauci To Claim That He Represents Science. During a Face The Nation Interview Dr. Fauci said “But if they [opposition lawmakers] get up and really aim their bullets at Tony Fauci, well people can recognize that there’s a person there, so it’s easy to criticize, but they’re really criticizing science because I represent science.” Rand Paul responded in a tweet saying it is “absolute hubris” for Dr. Facui to claim he represents science and that “It’s astounding and alarming that a public health bureaucrat would even think to claim such a thing, especially one who has worked so hard to ignore the science of natural immunity.”
December 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Criticized Dr. Fauci For “Creating Hysteria” Over Omicron Covid-19 Variant. During a Fox News interview, Rand Paul criticized the Biden Administration and Dr. Fauci for using “hysterical overreach” in mitigating the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Paul said, “Dr. Fauci routinely ignores the science and causes hysteria and creates fear. This is the opposite of what you really want as far as someone leading your public health effort.”
December 2021: Sen. Rand Paul Blames Dr. Fauci For Thousands Of Monthly Covid-19 Deaths. Due to Dr. Fauci’s focus on Covid-19 vaccines as opposed to monoclonal antibody treatments, Rand Paul said “I would venture to say that thousands of people die in our country every month now from COVID because [Fauci’s] deemphasized the idea that there are therapeutics.”
GOP SENATORS CONTINUE TO PROMOTE A FAULTY THEORY OF “NATURAL IMMUNITY” TO COVID-19
Rand Paul Has Repeatedly Claimed That Natural Immunity Is As Good Or Better Than Vaccination. Rand Paul has spent months promoting the false claim that people with “natural immunity” don’t need to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Paul published an op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal entitled, “The science proves people with natural immunity should skip COVID vaccines.” He has publicly lectured HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra about his incorrect belief that “naturally-acquired immunity is as good as a vaccine” and attacked Dr. Fauci accusing him of lying about natural immunity because it “foils his plans to get everybody possible vaccinated.”
Mike Lee And Three Colleagues Sponsored The “Natural Immunity Is Real” Act. Utah Senator Mike Lee has been one of the leaders of the GOP effort to force the CDC to accept the dubious theory of natural immunity. Lee introduced the “Natural Immunity Is Real” Act in September 2021, which would “require Federal agencies to acknowledge, accept, and agree to truthfully present, natural immunity pertaining to COVID–19 pursuant to promulgating certain regulations.” Lee was joined in sponsoring the bill by fellow Republicans Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Sen. Mike Brauin. The House version of the bill attracted 31 Republican co-sponsors.
Roger Marshall Called On The CDC To Recognize Natural Immunity. In December 2021 Kansas Senator Roger Marshall called on the CDC and the Biden administration to recognize natural immunity when combating the COVID-19 pandemic. On “Meet the Press,” Marshall appeared to argue that not everyone needs a booster shot and said protection offered by natural immunity from having contracted COVID-19 should also be taken into consideration. “If the CDC could have pivoted sooner, we would have saved thousands of lives. I think being honest with people, the CDC needs to acknowledge natural immunity,” said Marshall.
Ron Johnson Promoted Natural Immunity On The Grounds That “We Can’t Create Something Better Than God In Terms Of Combating Disease.” Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has been one of the GOP’s top promoters of vaccine misinformation, including his bizarre belief that natural immunity is somehow superior to vaccination. On a conservative talk show in January 2022 Johnson claimed, “Why do we assume that the body’s natural immune system isn’t the marvel that it is? Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combating disease? There are certain things we have to do, but we have just made so many assumptions, and it’s all pointed toward everybody getting a vaccine.”
STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT NATURAL IMMUNITY IS LESS CONSISTENT AND LESS EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE OMICRON VARIANT THAN VACCINATION
New Research Shows That Natural Immunity Is Less Protective Against Omicron Reinfections. According to a new study by Qatari researchers prior coronavirus infections appear to be much less protective against symptomatic Omicron reinfections than reinfection with other variants. The study found that prior infections were 90% effective against symptomatic reinfections for the Alpha variant, 92% effective for the Delta variant and only 56% effective for Omicron. Effectiveness against hospitalization and death was 69% for Alpha, 100% for Delta and 88% for Omicron.
The CDC Found That Vaccination Provides A “Higher, More Robust, And More Consistent Level Of Immunity To Protect People From Covid-19 Than Infection Alone.” In November 2021 a detailed science report scores of research studies and its own unpublished data, the Centers for Disease Control found that both infection-induced and vaccine-induced immunity are durable for at least six months — but that vaccines are more consistent in their protection and offer a huge boost in antibodies for people previously infected. In comparing the two types of immunity, the CDC found that research shows vaccination provides a “higher, more robust, and more consistent level of immunity to protect people from COVID-19 than infection alone.” CDC also found that antibody levels vary widely from one individual to another after an infection. The report also notes that there is no test authorized by the Food and Drug Administration that would enable doctors and the public to reliably measure an individual’s protection from disease.