Rand Paul bashes his ‘Twitter haters,’ touts natural immunity over COVID-19 vaccine
Sen. Rand Paul called out his “haters” Wednesday after he drew social media criticism for saying that contracting COVID-19 led people to have greater immunity than a vaccine would.
“Why does the left accept immune theory when it comes to vaccines, but not when discussing naturally acquired immunity?” Paul asked in a tweet Tuesday. The tweet was preceded by another social media post in which he said natural immunity to COVID-19 was “99.9982% percent effective.”
Critics of Paul’s remark pointed out that the vaccine wouldn’t present the same dangers as the virus itself. Coronavirus has now killed nearly 250,000 people in the United States. Paul explained Wednesday that he didn’t intend to argue against vaccines. Instead, he was saying COVID-19 patients should “celebrate immunity if lucky enough to survive.”
“Sad that Twitter haters argue that accepting the science of immunity means a person lacks compassion,” Paul said. “I have friends who are seriously ill & hope & pray for their recovery. Perhaps the haters could simply examine the evidence of immunity & not immediately devolve into ad hominem.”
Paul’s tweets came in reaction to Pfizer and Moderna reports that their vaccines were around 95 percent effective. Both vaccines are in trials, though Pfizer announced Wednesday it would ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization within days.
Paul had COVID-19 in March and has since argued that people who recovered from the virus should throw away their masks. He has also said recovered COVID-19 patients should serve senior citizens at restaurants.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, criticized Paul’s assertions about herd immunity and COVID-19 back in September when Paul suggested to Fauci that New York city had reached herd immunity.
“I challenge that, senator... This happens with Sen. Rand all the time,” Fauci responded. “You are not listening to what the director of the CDC said, that in New York (the infection rate) is about 22%. If you believe 22% is herd immunity, I believe you are alone in that.”
Paul hasn’t been the only Kentucky Republican to complain that people are dismissive of “natural immune response.” Rep. Thomas Massie from northern Kentucky made the same argument and criticized Pfizer’s vaccine trial.
“The Pfizer vaccine announcement was based on efficacy at 7 DAYS, not weeks or months, yet many are dismissing the (unmeasured) duration of a natural immune response,” Massie said in a tweet Saturday.
Massie tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, indicating he had the virus and recovered from it, according to comments he made on Glenn Beck’s radio show in August.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 3:01 PM.