According to the latest data out of Israel, Israelis are seven times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated than those who have obtained natural immunity.
For most viruses, it is generally the scientific consensus that natural infection provides a better and more robust immunity than vaccines are able to. One of the only viruses where we know definitively this is not the case is the Human papillomavirus infection or HPV.
Israel National News recently reported that those who already had the virus at some point throughout the past year were more immune to Israel’s recent outbreak, while those who receive inoculation have been much more likely to fall ill in the latest wave.
“With a total of 835,792 Israelis known to have recovered from the virus, the 72 instances of reinfection amount to 0.0086% of people who were already infected with COVID. By contrast, Israelis who were vaccinated were 6.72 times more likely to get infected after the shot than after natural infection, with over 3,000 of the 5,193,499, or 0.0578%, of Israelis who were vaccinated getting infected in the latest wave.”
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis reported last month that 11 months after a mild infection immune cells were still capable of producing protective antibodies. The authors concluded that prior Covid infection induces a “robust” and “long-lived humoral immune response,” leading some scientists to suggest that natural immunity is probably lifelong.
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic published a study this week of 1,359 people previously infected with Covid who were unvaccinated. None of the subjects subsequently became infected, leading the researchers to conclude that “individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination.”
In a statement authored by several highly qualified epidemiologists from the universities of Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford, they declared similar findings for natural immunity against COVID-19.
“(A)s immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all – including the vulnerable – falls. Our goal should therefore be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach herd immunity.”
A recent study found that the current vaccines do next to nothing to help the body’s CD8 T-cells, which is the key to long-term immunity.
Dr. Ryan Cole, a Mayo Clinic-trained pathologist who runs one of the largest independent laboratories in the US recently said:
“A natural infection induces hundreds upon hundreds of antibodies against all proteins of the virus, including the envelope, the membrane, the nucleocapsid, and the spike,” said Dr. Cole, who has spent the past 16 months examining and culturing SARS-CoV-2 specimens.
“Dozens upon dozens of these antibodies neutralize the virus when encountered again. Additionally, because of the immune system exposure to these numerous proteins (epitomes), our T cells mount a robust memory, as well. Our T cells are the ‘marines’ of the immune system and the first line of defense against pathogens. T cell memory to those infected with SARSCOV1 is at 17 years and running still.”
However, in vaccine-induced immunity, according to Cole, “we mount an antibody response to only the spike and its constituent proteins.” Cole explained how this produces much fewer neutralizing antibodies, and “as the virus preferentially mutates at the spike, these proteins are shaped differently and antibodies can no longer ‘lock and key’ bind to these new shapes.”
The Guardian recently published another report showing that the vast majority of India’s population have antibodies to the virus despite only 6 to 13 percent of people being fully vaccinated.
The national survey shows 68% of Indians have SARSCoV2 antibodies, compared to 25% in January and 1% last spring. Experts say this is why cases and deaths have plunged so fast since May, even though few Indians are fully vaccinated.
One Twitter user asks:
“If the new finding is right that 67.6% Indians surveyed have Covid antibodies, India may be close to herd immunity. Why vaccinate those previously infected? An Israeli study shows immunity via natural infection is a bit stronger than vaccinated immunity.”
Today, in England, Scotland, and Israel, a greater percentage of the population was vaccinated, and much more quickly than in the United States. Because of this, the falling efficacy is much more apparent. Those countries have also been much more transparent about reporting hospitalizations and deaths among vaccinated people.
In all three countries, hospitalizations and deaths have risen since May, and vaccinated people have accounted for more than 50% of the deaths recently. Israel only used the Pfizer vaccine, and the United Kingdom used a mix. When broken down by different vaccines, the same results are found.
