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 very few viruses where we know 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 than those who have been fully vaccinated.
According to the data, those who were fully vaccinated were almost 7 times more likely to get COVID than unvaccinated individuals who were naturally immune.
“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.”
A new study published on medRxiv.org that covered more than 800,000 people split into three groups, shows that fully vaccinated individuals may be at greater risk of COVID than those unvaccinated.
According to the massive study, people who have taken both doses of the Pfizer jab are 13 times more likely to have a breakthrough infection and are even at a vastly greater risk for Covid-19 hospitalizations.
Vaccinated individuals were found to have a 27 times higher risk of symptomatic COVID infection compared to those with natural immunity from prior COVID disease.
“SARS-CoV-2-naïve vaccinees had a 13.06-fold (95% CI, 8.08 to 21.11) increased risk for breakthrough infection with the Delta variant compared to those previously infected when the first event (infection or vaccination) occurred during January and February of 2021. The increased risk was significant (P<0.001) for symptomatic disease as well.“
“After adjusting for comorbidities, we found a 27.02-fold risk (95% CI, 12.7 to 57.5) for symptomatic breakthrough infection as opposed to symptomatic reinfection (P<0.001) (Table 2b). None of the covariates were significant, except for age ≥60 years.”
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis also 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 also published a study recently 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.”
During a speech for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dr. Anthony Fauci hinted at why moving the goalposts on herd immunity is important to the Biden Administration’s strategy for mandating vaccines.
This comes at a time when Bloomberg News reports that delta’s spread has pushed the estimate for herd immunity “well over 80% and potentially approaching 90%” according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which announced the change during a briefing on Tuesday.
That’s a much higher bar than previous estimates of 60% to 70%. More importantly, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other policymakers are treating the 90% number as a threshold for vaccination, not immunity.
Vaccine companies and the government are beginning to acknowledge the overwhelming scientific evidence that suggests the vaccines begin to lose their protective effect after a few months, and that many people will need boosters soon.
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.
As natural immunity is proven superior for yet another virus, many Twitter users are pointing back to the time that the World Health Organization changed their definition of ‘herd immunity.’
For as long as the ‘herd immunity’ section existed on the World Health Organization’s website, the WHO defined herd immunity as through natural infection or vaccination.
After the vaccines were approved for emergency use authorization though, the WHO changed the definition on their site to show that herd immunity is achieved only through vaccination.
When many outlets, including the NY Post, highlighted this change which included misinformation, the WHO changed the definition on their website again.
Original Definition on the WHO Website
Change to the Definition on the WHO Website
Final Change to the Definition on the WHO Website
According to doctors, the dominant Delta variant’s symptoms are much milder, and the fatality rate is far lower than previous coronavirus variants. Dr. David Priest, an infectious disease specialist with Novant Health, said while the loss of taste and smell was the most telltale sign of the coronavirus throughout the pandemic, many getting sick with delta present with more mild symptoms, like a runny nose or sore throat.
The symptoms closely resemble the common cold or hay fever.
