Sen. Rand Paul said he will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine because he has “natural immunity” after already being infected with the virus.
“Until they show me evidence that people who have already had the infection are dying in large numbers, or being hospitalized or getting very sick, I just made my own personal decision that I’m not getting vaccinated because I’ve already had the disease, and I have natural immunity,” Paul said in a radio interview with WABC’s John Catsimatidis.
Paul’s remarks come despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance advising people who have already had COVID-19 to get the vaccine because “experts do not yet know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering.”
“Even if you have already recovered from COVID-19, it is possible—although rare—that you could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 again,” the CDC guidance reads.
GETTING VACCINATED IS A PERSONAL CHOICE
But Paul, who has a medical background as an ophthalmologist, argued it should be up to individuals to make their own medical decisions.
“In a free country, you would think people would honor the idea that each individual would get to make the medical decision, that it wouldn’t be a big brother coming to tell me what I have to do,” Paul said.
“Are they also going to tell me I can’t have a cheeseburger for lunch? Are they going to tell me that I have to eat carrots only and cut my calories?” Paul continued. “All that would probably be good for me, but I don’t think big brother ought to tell me to do it.”
Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has also expressed a similar stance on the issue of natural immunity.
“I have argued for months that we could save more American lives if those with prior Covid-19 infection forgo vaccines until all vulnerable seniors get their first dose,” Makary argued in a February Wall Street Journal op-ed. “Several studies demonstrate that natural immunity should protect those who had Covid-19 until more vaccines are available.”
Paul was also supported by Rep. Thomas Massie, who said on Twitter that he was declining the vaccine because of his previous infection.
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“Good for @RandPaul. I too am declining to take the vaccine, because I previously recovered from SARS-CoV2 and it’s unlikely I would benefit from the vaccine at this point,” Massie said. “But notice how the media uses the verb ‘refuse’ instead of the more appropriate verb ‘decline.’”
