Post #5309 Rant of the Day Woods and Other Libertarian Vaccine Skeptics

 Vaccine skeptics almost seem to celebrate the increasing percentage of vaccine breakthrough cases. Consider these Michigan statistics:

What they don't point out, of course, is we have an increasing vaccinated base, vaccines don't guarantee against an infection during a pandemic (the mRNA vaccines mention 94-95% effectiveness), the more contagious nature of the Delta variant, and the percentage of  confirmed vaccine breakthroughs is statistically negligible (under 1%). Measles, for instance, virtually disappeared for years from the US, in large part due to herd immunity, but we have had some minor breakouts, e.g., from unvaccinated kids catching the disease outside the country and spreading it among other unvaccinated on their return. The Delta variant has been particularly contagious. And the extension of mask wearing has to deal with measured virus in breathing passages of breakthrough cases for the Delta variant, but:

By evaluating the breakthrough and overall case data, a report by The New York Times estimated that unvaccinated individuals in Michigan are 28 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 versus the fully vaccinated, and eight times more likely to die from coronavirus infection.

CDC notes:

As of August 16, 2021, more than 168 million people in the United States had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. During the same time, CDC received reports from 49 U.S. states and territories of 9,716 patients with COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infection who were hospitalized or died.

At least a fifth of those patients died or were hospitalized from non-COVID reasons, and at least 70% were at least 65 years old. In part, we probably are seeing declining protection among older people who were vaccinated 6 months or longer. 

Just to give one example, 3 well-known libertarian-conservatives (Massie, Rand Paul, ant Tom Woods) have resisted vaccination after their own infections with COVID-19, claiming natural immunity against reinfection. (Others want to suggest that the recent guidance for masking of vaccinated people undermines the credibility of vaccines.)  Let me quote CDC here:

 [L]aboratory evidence suggests that antibody responses following COVID-19 vaccination provide better neutralization of some circulating variants than does natural infection...This report details the findings of a case-control evaluation of the association between vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in Kentucky during May–June 2021 among persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 2020. Kentucky residents who were not vaccinated had 2.34 times the odds of reinfection compared with those who were fully vaccinated 

Now are the 3 libertarians acting irrationally? I don't know their medical histories, but I think they're under 50 years old. I might be more cautious with Rand Paul, because I think he lost part of one lung over a neighbor's assault. I will say that reinfections are relatively rare, typically under 2% over the next several months (maybe 5 times less likely to be infected than the unvaccinated uninfected and usually less seriously when infected (e.g., asymptomatic or mild symptomatic). Is it worth vaccine shots to lower your risk of reinfection by over half, even with natural immunity? In my judgment, yes. Especially in the cases of Paul and Massie whose infections were maybe over a year ago and under less contagious early variants than Delta. We simply don't have enough data on how long any acquired immunity lasts. I will likely take a booster in early December when I become eligible. I like the evidence that boosters more than tripled the level of relevant antibodies. 

Many libertarians, particularly Ron Paul,  have been dreading the FDA's recent full approval of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine recently, seeing it as triggering a flood of vaccine mandates and/or vaccine passports. (See here for a summary of relevant COVID-19 state policies.)

I do not know to what extent these or other libertarians have been involved in spreading debunked misinformation like alleged DNA manipulation by mRNA vaccines, but the Ron Paul Institute got caught trying to imply that a COVID-19 outbreak at an Alabama nursing home was related to its recent vaccine rollout.

I have a more nuanced view on things like vaccine mandates and passports. There should be an exception for those who physically cannot tolerate vaccine shots (certain allergies). I do think employers have a vested interest to maintain a healthy environment for their workers, including state or federal employees, teachers, etc., e.g., mandating vaccination or testing. Woods has been for some time fear-mongering over prospective vaccination of children (approval likely deferred until this winter), arguing children have virtually no cases and no need for it. (This is a state of denial; of course, kids can get and spread viral infections.) Personally I think that libertarians should be more concerned about the FDA/CDC control over COVID-19 testing and vaccination. I think a lot of people got sick and/or died  which could have been averted without government monopoly control.