Kentucky Senator Rand Paul provided proof that people who have already been infected with and have recovered from COVID-19 do not need to be vaccinated against it any more.
The proof, coming in the form of a study, also "crushes the idea of vaccine passports," Red State noted. This is because it proves that all people do not need to be vaccinated against the virus, and consequently do not need to prove that they've been inoculated.
"Great news! Cleveland clinic study of 52,238 employees shows unvaccinated people who have had COVID 19 have no difference in re-infection rate than people who had COVID 19 and who took the vaccine," Paul tweeted on Tuesday.
"This information frees up millions of doses of vaccines for those not yet infected in places with vaccine shortages like India," he said sharing the link to the article by News Medical Life Sciences on the Cleveland Clinic study.
According to News Medical, the scientists who conducted the study wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine among those who were and were not infected by the virus. Individuals who were previously infected, as per the study, do not get any additional benefits if they get vaccinated as compared to those with no prior infection of COVID-19.
The Cleveland Clinic study, entitled "Necessity of COVID-19 Vaccination In Previously Infected Individuals," involved 52,238 employees of the Cleveland Clinic Health System that worked on December 16, 2020 in Ohio and comprise a mixture of vaccinated people and COVID-19-infected people.
"The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection remained almost zero among previously infected unvaccinated subjects, previously infected subjects who were vaccinated, and previously uninfected subjects who were vaccinated, compared with a steady increase in cumulative incidence among previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated," the results of the study said in its Abstract.
The study pointed out that there was no repeat infection on the 1,359 respondents who did not get vaccinated after previously being infected by COVID-19.
As per the five-man team of scientists who conducted the study, people who have not been infected by the virus should be prioritized for vaccination since previously-infected people would be "unlikely to benefit" from it.
RedState highlighted that the study reveals the reality and effectivity of natural immunity. It pointed out that what was previously pushed by many - that people with natural immunity do not need to get vaccinated anymore, since they've already acquired resistance to the virus due to their prior infection and eventual recovery.
"That's not to say a person who has had COVID can't get vaccinated. It's a free country, after all, but there's no reason to force people to do so," the media outfit stressed.
Last January, President Joe Biden mandated the use of an individual's COVID-19 vaccination for travel as a precursor to the vaccination passport. Although the bid was highly opposed by state legislators out of their concern for the protection of citizens' privacy, since the vaccination passport would be run using private company platforms and will be used by various businesses.
The mandate to require vaccination credentials are also blasted as a precursor to China's system of control over its citizens.
