Lauren Dempsey, MS in Biomedicine and Law, RN, FISM News 

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U.S. District Court Judge James Selna ruled to uphold the University of California’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement after the schools mandate had been challenged by a professor who had previously contracted and recovered from the coronavirus. In the lawsuit he asserted he his natural immunity should preclude him from the mandate.

This ruling could set a precedent for future cases involving individuals seeking a natural immunity exemption as it is the first judgement of its kind. There are currently many lawsuits against vaccine mandates all over the United States right now that this could potentially affect. 

However, this one ruling is not indicative of how other judges are ruling. In August, George Mason University Professor Todd Zywicki was granted a medical exemption from the university’s vaccine mandate. After the ruling Zywicki said, “I speak for tens of millions of Americans in the same circumstances I am in, and I call on leaders across the country to develop humane and science-based approaches as opposed to one-size-fits-all policies.”

Millions of Americans would be affected if public leadership and companies continue to push anti-scientific positions saying that every American needs to be vaccinated in order to protect against coronavirus and eradicate COVID-19.

This would particularly be detrimental to the healthcare sector, which is already facing a shortage. Vaccine mandates will worsen staffing issues already plaguing nursing homes and hospitals as clinicians are currently being fired or are quitting over these mandates. As New York prepares for a shortage exacerbated by vaccine mandate deadlines, Governor Kathy Hochul outlined a plan to allow out of state workers or the National Guard to care for patients. 

The truth is, much like the flu and other viral infections, COVID-19 won’t be eradicated. Government agencies and healthcare providers need to take a serious look at the role that natural immunity plays in providing protection. These arbitrary mandates treat medicine as one size fits all remedy, rather than a personalized approach between a patient and their physician.

To exacerbate the issue, President Biden has appointed individuals in positions of power to make recommendations on public health who have no background in science or medicine. Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of HHS is a lawyer and career politician, holding no degree in science or medicine, yet he has been granted the position to make decisions that are critical to the rights of millions of Americans. He has continually ignored the science when it comes to natural immunity, comparing millions of Americans to flat-earthers for choosing not get vaccinated. 

The question then remains, what exactly is natural immunity and why are those in public health so quick to deny its benefits?

Natural immunity is acquired from having an infection with a specific disease, like measles or chickenpox, to which the body creates antibodies in response to this infection, typically resulting in life-long immunity.

Vaccines, on the other hand, work by stimulating the immune response by introducing a pathogen, so that an individual doesn’t develop the disease.  This will still create antibodies, but it does not always provide life-long protection, thus the need for repeated boosters.

Studies from Israel and the Cleveland Clinic have highlighted the benefits of natural immunity over vaccines. 

The constant bombardment of cases and death rates by the media has created both fear and a feverish need to vaccinate at all costs. It has also resulted in vast government overreach and a great divide in the nation.

Vaccine mandates are authoritarian by nature and strip United States citizens of their basic civil liberties, bodily autonomy, and rejects the four pillars of medical ethics that drive healthcare.

The goal should not be mass vaccination, it should be immunity, which provides the ultimate protection to the public.