Within a day of the President telling U.S. citizens to get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do, Israeli researchers reported that having COVID is as effective protection as the vaccine! You also need to see what a Texas pediatrician has to say about giving children the COVID vaccine–and she is pro-vaccines. Scroll down to watch.

According to News Medical Life Science, “Researchers in Israel have conducted a study showing that the immunity provided against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – is similar following natural infection or immunization with the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine.

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The researchers from the Israel Institute of Technology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Sheba Medical Center say the findings raise the question of whether it is necessary to vaccinate individuals who have previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2.

The team’s analysis of individual-level data for the entire population of Israel found that both prior infection and vaccination were highly effective at preventing subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization due to COVID-19, and severe disease.

“This is the first large-scale study to explore the protection due to prior SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with the Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine,” says Yair Goldberg and colleagues.

“Our results question the need to vaccinate previously-infected individuals,” they write. . . .

More about the vaccination program in Israel

Israel is in the later stages of rolling out vaccination to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection and reduce the number of COVID-19 cases.

The vaccination program was first launched in Israel on December 20^th, 2020.

The Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine was initially made freely available to those aged more than 60 years, followed by nursing home residents, healthcare workers, patients with severe comorbidities, and eventually younger age groups. . . .

By March 20^th, 2021, 77% of the eligible population in Israel had been vaccinated. . . .

Previous studies showed the efficacy of both prior infection and vaccination

Recent studies have shown that vaccination substantially reduces SARS-CoV-2 viral load and the number of severe COVID-19 cases. . . .

However, studies have also shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection provides protection against reinfection with the virus.

The researchers say that the worldwide shortage of vaccines, while the pandemic is still uncontrolled, has meant that many governments now face the dilemma of whether to vaccinate people who have already been infected. . . .

What did the researchers do?

The researchers analyzed individual-level data collected by the Israel Ministry of Health and the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics on people aged 16 and older across the entire population of Israel.

The database included demographic data and information on dates of first and second vaccination, as well as the dates and results of all polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 that were performed between March 1^st, 2020 and March 20^th, 2021.

For individuals with a positive PCR test, data were available on symptoms, disease course (hospitalization, severe disease, and death), and the maximum disease severity status.

To estimate the efficacy of the BNT162b2 vaccine or prior infection in reducing documented SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19, the team focused on four cohorts:

• Unvaccinated and previously uninfected individuals
• Vaccinated individuals who were followed from the day of the first dose to day six after the second dose
• Vaccinated individuals who were followed from one week after the second dose onwards
• Unvaccinated recovered individuals who had previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 between June 1^st and September 30^th, 2020. . . .

Follow-up was carried out for an extended duration

The data are based on follow-up of the four cohorts from December 20^th, 2020, until March 20^th, 2021, with more than 573 million person-days of follow-up. . . .

During this time, 306,712 individuals tested PCR-positive for infection (5·4 infections per 10,000 person-days). Of these individuals, 14,019 (4·6%) required hospitalization, 8,463 (2·8%) developed severe disease, and 2,727 (0·9%) died.

What were the efficacy results?

The overall estimated efficacy of vaccination was 92·8% for documented infection, 94.2% for hospitalization, 94.4% for severe illness and 93.7% for death.

Similarly, the overall estimated level of protection among individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was 94.% for documented infection, 94.1% for hospitalization and 96·4% for severe illness. . . .

Findings raise the question of whether to vaccinate recently infected individuals

The researchers say the study suggests that both the BNT162b2 vaccine and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection are effective against both subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection and other COVID-19–related outcomes. . . .

This raises the question of whether it is necessary to vaccinate individuals who have recently been infected with SARS-CoV-2, concludes the team. . . .

According to The Daily Caller, “President Joe Biden issued an ultimatum to Americans Thursday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eased restrictions for vaccinated Americans.

“The rule is now simple,” the president tweeted. “Get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do.” . . .

The CDC updated its guidance Thursday, allowing vaccinated Americans to forgo masks both outdoors and in most indoor situations. The guidance still encourages Americans to wear a mask in crowded areas but otherwise says it is safe for vaccinated people to go mask-less in crowds outdoors.

Following CDC guidance, the White House lifted its mask mandate for all staff, media and guests that are fully vaccinated.

Despite the good news, Dr. Anthony Fauci has previously warned that masks could very well become a seasonal thing. . . .

The announcement to drop the mask mandate for vaccinated Americans comes after it was reported the CDC was dramatically overstating outdoor transmission of the virus.

The New York Times reported the CDC’s April announcement that the chance of catching COVID-19 outside was less than 10% exaggerated the truth. Instead, the report claimed outdoor transmission was less than 1%, and could even be as low as 0.1% . . .

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(Excerpt from News Medical Life Science and The Daily Caller. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)