Florida's capital city. Natural immunity is a new weapon being used by Republicans against the White House rules.
Republicans have invoked the concept of immunity and antibodies to not need a vaccine for people who have recovered from the virus.
GOP lawmakers in other states are pushing similar measures to sidestep vaccine mandates as Florida wrote natural immunity into state law this week. The lawsuits over the mandates are leaning on the idea. Conservative federal lawmakers want regulators to consider it when making mandates.
Some people who have been exposed to COVID-19 have some level of immunity, but vaccines offer a more consistent level of protection. Natural immunity is not a one-size-fits-all scenario, making it difficult to grant sweeping exemptions to vaccines.
How sick they were, how long ago they wereinfecting, and if the virus variant they had is different from the one circulating now are all factors that affect immunity. A person who had a minor case a year ago is different from a person who had a severe case in the summer. It's difficult to know if someone is protected from future infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in August that survivors who didn't get the vaccine were more likely to get it again. A recent study from the CDC found that people who had been exposed months earlier were five times more likely to get COVID-19 than people who hadn't been exposed.
If you survive, you can have some protection against getting infections in the future and against serious infections in the future. Even those who have been exposed to the disease in the past get additional protection from the vaccine.
Studies show that survivors of COVID-19 develop extra-strong protection from vaccine. The coronaviruses vaccine acts like a booster when a person gets it. The combination strengthens another layer of the immune system, helping to create new anti-infections that are more likely to survive future variant.
60 million people are unvaccinated in the US because of the Pandemic and the immunity debate comes as the country is experiencing another surge in infections and hospitalizations. Biden is hoping that more people will get vaccinations because of workplace mandates that face many challenges in the courts.
The argument that immunity from earlier infections should be enough to get an exemption from the mandates has been embraced by many Republicans.
We are doing a science-based approach, unlike what you see happening with the federal proposed mandates. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who has been a critic of vaccine mandates, said at a signing ceremony for sweeping legislation that they recognize people who have natural immunity.
The new Florida law requires private businesses to allow workers to opt out of COVID-19 mandates if they can prove immunity through a prior infection, as well as exemptions based on medical reasons, religious beliefs, regular testing or an agreement to wear protective gear. The state health department will have the authority to define exemption standards, thanks to Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has drawn national attention over his refusal to wear a face mask during a meeting.
The New Hampshire Legislature will take up a similar measure in January. Lawmakers in Idaho and Wyoming debated similar measures but did not pass them. If you have already had vaccine, Utah has a law that will allow you to avoid the vaccine requirement.
Russia has seen a lot of people seeking out tests to prove they did not need vaccines because of an earlier illness.
Some politicians use the science behind natural immunity to argue against vaccines.
The shot is not the only way out of the epidemic. Idaho Republican Rep. Greg Ferch said he wouldn't give blind faith to the pharmaceutical narrative.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received a letter in late September from a group of GOP doctors, dentists and pharmacists urging them to consider natural immunity when setting vaccine policies.
The White House has recently unveiled a host of vaccine mandates, sparking a flurry of lawsuits from GOP states, setting the stage for pitched legal battles. Federal contractors, businesses with more than 100 employees and health care workers are required to have vaccine requirements.
Others are challenging local vaccine rules using an immunity.
The University of Nevada, Reno, the governor and others are being sued by a 19-year-old student who refused to be tested but contracted a disease and recovered quickly. The case alleges that the vaccine mandates are unconstitutional.
Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have filed a case that challenges their workplace vaccine mandate for civil rights and constitutional violations, arguing that the lab has refused requests for medical accommodations for workers who have fully recovered from COVID-19.
A similar lawsuit from Chicago firefighters and other city employees hit a roadblock last month when a judge said their case lacked scientific evidence to support their argument that people who have had the virus are better protected from the vaccine.
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Lauran Neergaard is a Medical Writer for the Associated Press.
