Originally published August 28, 2023 8:33 am PDT
The New York Times is citing U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials, telling Americans that a new wave of COVID-19 infections is on the way.
From The Times:
A late-summer wave of coronavirus infections has touched schools, workplaces and local government, as experts warned the public to brace for even more Covid-19 spread this fall and winter. Hospitalizations have increased 24 percent in a two-week period ending Aug. 12, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wastewater monitoring suggests a recent rise in Covid infections in the West and Northeast. In communities across the United States, outbreaks have occurred in recent weeks at preschools, summer camps and office buildings. Public health officials said that the latest increase in Covid hospitalizations is still relatively small and the vast majority of the sick are experiencing mild symptoms that are comparable to a cold or the flu. And most Americans, more than three months after the Biden administration allowed the 2020 declaration calling the coronavirus a public health emergency to expire, have shown little willingness to return to the days of frequent testing, mask wearing and isolation. But for Americans who have become accustomed to feeling the nation has moved beyond Covid, the current wave could be a rude reminder that the emerging New Normal is not a world without the virus.
However, more than 81% of the U.S. population has received at least one COVID vaccine, raising questions about the vaccine’s effectiveness.
“Vaccinated people can still become infected and have the potential to spread the virus to others,” the CDC has admitted.
Nevertheless, Joe Biden’s ‘National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan’ stipulates that Americans can only “begin to get back to our more normal routines” and “no longer fear lockdowns, shutdowns, and our kids not going to school” if they receive more vaccinations.
“As the country emerges from the Omicron wave, our path forward relies on maintaining and continually enhancing the numerous tools we now have to protect ourselves and our loved ones – from vaccines, to tests, to treatments, to masks, and more,” according to a White House explainer.
Biden’s push for Americans to vaccinate comes despite research published in The Lancet confirming that natural immunity acquired from a coronavirus infection—as opposed to that provided through vaccination—can provide strong and long-lasting protection against severe illness and death.
The study, which signified the largest meta-analysis to date on immunity following infection, analyzed data from 65 studies in 19 countries.
The paper found that, for all variants, an infection alone reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from a COVID reinfection by 88.9% for at least 10 months.
“Protection from past infection against re-infection from pre-omicron variants was very high and remained high even after 40 weeks,” the authors stated.
They concluded that the “high” immunity gained by past infection “should be weighed alongside” pharmaceutical methods of preventing COVID infection.
However, the authors emphasized that natural immunity could even be “higher” than those other methods.
“[O]ur analysis of the available data suggests that the level of protection afforded by previous infection is at least as high, if not higher than that provided by two-dose vaccination using high-quality mRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech),” the authors confirm.
Even former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Dr. Anthony Fauci has admitted that vaccines do not offer “durable” protection from COVID.
It is worth noting that the Times piece does not inform readers about the proven protection acquired by natural immunity, instead opting to emphasize how some health authorities have “urged the public to stay up-to-date on vaccinations.”
The New York Times is owned by BlackRock and The Vanguard Group, the same asset managers who own Pfizer, which sells COVID vaccines, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest.
