Under this KY resolution, COVID antibodies would be considered equal to vaccines
An emergency joint resolution that would require Kentucky to formally recognize a positive COVID-19 antibody test as equivalent to being fully vaccinated received preliminary approval Wednesday from a health and welfare legislative committee.
Senate Joint Resolution 80, from Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, would require the commonwealth to “recognize individuals, including but not limited to state employees, whose serology tests show measurable neutralizing antibodies to COVID-19 . . . as equivalent to being fully vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19,” according to the resolution language.
To date, a little over 55% of Kentuckians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 23% have received a booster, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Alvarado first proposed this resolution, which is largely symbolic, during the General Assembly’s special session in September, when Republicans stripped Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of his executive authority to institute statewide mitigation measures, such as mask mandates. The resolution was voted favorably out of committee, but it was never voted on in the House.
On Wednesday, members of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee passed it in an 8-2 vote along party lines.
‘We’re giving an alternative’
While natural immunity occurs after a COVID-19 infection, public health experts have repeatedly insisted that vaccination is the safest way to build protection against strains of the virus. Immunologists, public health researchers and credible institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continue to recommend that people previously infected also get vaccinated, as it significantly boosts one’s immune protections.
As for whether the two immune responses are scientifically equivalent is complicated and based on a number of different variables, including the quality of one’s immune response to infection and the strain they are infected with.
Proposals such as Alvarado’s are part of a larger conservative-led movement to downplay guidance from agencies like the CDC and President Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Other states with a Republican majority, including Arkansas, Florida and Utah, have passed similar measures that hinge on equating natural immunity with vaccination. Minnesota Republicans waded into the fray last month.
Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has at times led that charge, aggressively undermining public health guidance and downplaying the importance of vaccination as a crucial tool to end the pandemic. In May, Paul declared that those with natural immunity should be allowed to bypass vaccination. In September, he told Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra that “naturally-acquired immunity is as good as a vaccine.”
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, another Republican firebrand, has also castigated the CDC and President Biden for “denying (the) science” of natural immunity.
Alvarado says he isn’t taking issue with the merits of vaccination — he has previously admitted he is fully vaccinated and has recommended it to others. The resolution is intended to acknowledge the tens of thousands of people who have developed robust natural immunity.
The Winchester-based doctor said he has heard “concerns” from many constituents who’ve had the virus, including doctors and nurses.
“Many of them for various reasons perhaps have not taken a vaccine, don’t wish to take a vaccine, but have said, ‘I’ve already been exposed, I have a measurable antibody level, and I have the equivalent of being recognized as such,’” he said.
Democrats have criticized the measure as a ploy to grant state approval to people who opt out of immunization.
Sen. Michael Nemes, R-Shepherdsville, who supported the resolution in September and again on Wednesday, said during the special session, “We’re giving an alternative to those that don’t want to be vaccinated.”
Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, who voted against the bill, said it sends the wrong message. Both Berg and Alvarado are licensed physicians.
“The only mandates for vaccination (allowed) in the state right now (are) for health care workers and private employers,” Berg said. “I do not see the purpose of this, it is not good science. I will state that unequivocally.”
It’s not clear whether Alvarado’s resolution would impact private employers mandating their staff be vaccinated. It likely will not douse the current federal vaccine mandate for health care workers.
Benefits of vaccines, natural immunity
Natural immunity does provide a level of protection for an individual, and people who have been previously infected with COVID-19 and are fully vaccinated are considered the most protected. But scientists have struggled to clearly delineate whether immunity from vaccination is more robust than immunity from infection.
Two doses of an mRNA vaccine produce a more reliable amount of antibodies than a natural infection might. But antibodies from previous infections may be more diverse and capable of fighting off more variants, the New York Times reported in October.
Relying on infection-induced immunity without vaccination is not a guaranteed way to best protect oneself from severe illness, public health experts generally agree. Then again, neither is vaccination.
But data show that vaccination, over time, continues to fend off severe infection for an overwhelming majority of people who contract COVID-19. That’s why public health guidance continues to say “vaccination remains the safest and primary strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections,” the CDC wrote in January.
Between March 2021 and January 19, 2022 in Kentucky, 77.5% of the 588,205 total cases reported were among unvaccinated residents, according to the Kentucky DPH. Likewise, 84.5% of the 13,955 people hospitalized with the virus were unvaccinated, as were 83.1% of the 5,167 people who died.
The potency of the virus has dulled over time and will continue to, as it transitions from pandemic to endemic. As a result, even Democratic-led states are loosening their grip on mitigation measures. On Tuesday, New York became the latest state to drop its indoor mask mandate.
Kentucky’s governor no longer wields executive authority to institute any statewide mandate to minimize the spread of coronavirus. Before that authority was stripped by Republicans, Beshear said a statewide vaccine mandate was never on the table.
