We tend to think that natural things are good things, but that’s not always the case. When it came to SARS-CoV-2, “natural immunity” killed over 1 million Americans and injured millions more. It’s still doing so today. In no sense was it “better” or “more effective” or than the vaccine, and on Monday, Dr. David Gorski described this as a the “central delusion” of the anti-vaccine movement. He wrote:
Specifically, it is the idea that immunity after surviving an infection (often referred to as “natural immunity”) is somehow inherently superior to immunity acquired through vaccination. While it is true that for some vaccines postinfection immunity is longer lasting than vaccine-induced immunity, the price of postinfection immunity is suffering through the infection and being at risk for the serious complications that the infection can cause.
This is obviously true. Children can understand this concept, and it can be spelled out in a single comic.
Source: xkcd comic
Unsurprisingly, We Want Them Infected doctors disagreed. They acted as publicity agents for “natural immunity”, defending it against allegations that it was dangerous or something to be avoided. Dr. Martin Kulldorff wrote an article titled The Triumph of Natural Immunity, and Dr. Marty Makary said the exact same thing in his article The Power of Natural Immunity. Talk about groupthink.
WWTI doctors further claimed that “natural immunity” was superior to vaccine-immunity, though of course, the immune response elicited by vaccines is 100% natural. In August 2021, as the Delta variant filled hospital and morgues, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya starred in a Fox News segment titled A New Study Says Natural Immunity May be Better Than Vaccines. In it, Dr. Bhattacharya praised the vaccine, at least for “vulnerable” people, but also said that this study:
Suggests that if you just recover from COVID, you have a very, very high, you know, sort of better protection against both infection and severe disease than people who just get the vaccine.
“If you just recover from COVID” is the key part of that sentence.
Meanwhile, Dr. Marty Makary went even further during one of his stints on Fox News, saying about this same study:
There are countless more examples of these doctors glorifying “natural immunity,” and they were no different from pre-pandemic pro-virus drivel. Examples include the abomination HPV Vaccine Maker’s Study Proves Natural HPV Infection Beneficial, Not Deadly, by Dr. Kelly Brogan and Sayer Ji, and Natural Measles Immunity — Better Protection and More Long-Term Benefits Than Vaccines, written by Kennedy’s team at the Children’s Health Defense.
Given how “natural immunity” has abused by pro-infection disinformation agents, we should abandon the term and be honest about what it really is. In a comment here, Professor Christopher Halkides came up with a wise replacement. He said:
There is no such thing as natural immunity; there is survivor immunity.
That’s absolutely right. While death is obviously not the only bad outcome from any virus, if that virus didn’t kill you, you are left with survivor immunity. That’s something to be profoundly grateful for, not something to glorify and intentionally seek out.