Researchers from Israel analyzed data from the country's health database with data from August to September, in which they found that COVID infections and severe illness rates were higher among those who were vaccinated against the coronavirus versus those who recovered from the illness.
According to The Epoch Times, research from Israel showed that naturally immune individuals showed a 10.5 per 100,000 infection rate four to six months after they recovered from their previous COVID infection. Meanwhile, those who were vaccinated against COVID showed a 69.2 per 100,000 infection rate, much higher than the naturally immune.
Data also showed that the number of severe COVID cases were also higher among those who got the jab, with 0.9 percent of all cases among that group were severe versus 0.5 percent of cases among those who previously got COVID and then recovered. Researchers also found that protection against COVID waned over time in both groups, but the rate at which the protection dropped was higher among those who were vaccinated.
Researchers in Israel studied two other cohorts, including individuals with natural immunity who later got the COVID vaccine and those who got a vaccine and later recovered from a COVID infection. Data revealed that case rates were low in both groups but they were lowest by a small margin in the naturally immune who also got the vaccine.
"We found that protection against the Delta variant wanes over time for both vaccinated and previously infected individuals and that an additional dose restores protection," Yair Goldberg, an associate professor at the Israel Institute of Technology who led the pre-print study explained.
For the study, researchers looked at the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine, which was the jab that was most used in Israel. Meanwhile, in the U.S., health authorities are still pushing for vaccine immunity or what they call "hybrid immunity," which refers to "a recovery from COVID plus at least one mRNA vaccine," The Hill reported.
Dr. Carlos Del Rio, president-elect of the Infectious Disease Society of America, claimed that all immunity is "natural" no matter if it is triggered by a previous COVID infection or through an experimental vaccine. He claimed that it did not matter how the immune system is signaled to make neutralizing antibodies, T cells, and memory B cells against COVID. The report concluded, "Vaccines are 'natural' too."
This was unsurprisingly backed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky who claimed that using the terms "natural immunity" may send a message to the public that one type of immunity is better than the other.
She highlighted that COVID has potential long-term side effects, which include " loss of smell and taste, cognitive changes, and lung and heart issues," which the report argued far outweigh the benefits received from a "natural immunity," which may be "temporary and variable."
Those who want to learn more about natural immunity and its advantages over vaccine-induced immunity can head to the Brownstone Institute's website, which states that as of October, there have been 137 studies affirming "that naturally acquired immunity is equal to or more robust and superior to existing vaccines."
