WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — A doctor with Aspirus Health in Wausau says natural immunity is proving to be ineffective against COVID-19.
Doctor Adam Clements says natural immunity is good for some viruses but isn’t nearly as effective for others. So far the data shows that COVID-19 falls into the second category.
“Natural immunity is great for mono. People don’t die from mononucleosis, the immunity lasts a long time, but it’s not good for influenza. It mutates too fast… it’s not good for HIV because once you’ve got it, you’ve got it,” Dr. Clements said. “Which one is better really depends on the illness. For COVID, natural immunity is not an effective or wise strategy.”
Additionally, natural immunity will fade much more quickly than immunity developed through vaccination. Clements says that’s been proven in real-world settings such as South Africa, where 70% of the population had natural immunity.
“Omicron actually arose in South Africa in the setting of natural immunity. and it has a lot of mutations in the spike protein. It’s already demonstrated its ability to evade that. As of a day or two ago, Omicron is 75% of the new cases in the United States. It’s here, and natural immunity doesn’t work. Vaccines remain the most effective strategy to protect yourself and others,” said Clements.
He adds that he has yet to see any deaths tied to a vaccine-related complication. “I’ve not even really heard of one outside of rare case reports. Yet, I see people die of COVID every day at this hospital.
“The data on the vaccines indicate that they are safer than most of the medicines that we use. They have a better safety profile than a lot of antibiotics, and a lot of the other meds that we use,” added Clements.
