‘I Had to Stand up and Try to Do Something:’ Professor of Medicine on Suing School Over Vaccine Mandate

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic similar galore different aesculapian experts. He worked agelong hours arsenic the United States tried to grapple with the caller disease. He had excessively galore conversations with household members whose loved ones were dying from it.

But arsenic clip wore on, helium started noticing a signifier successful nationalist wellness decisions that seemed to diverge from accepted aesculapian ethics, including an insistence that radical astatine small hazard from COVID-19 get a vaccine.

Kheriaty is present connected suspension from the University of California, Irvine, (UCI) and challenging the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate successful court.

“I had to basal up and effort to bash thing astir it,” the prof of psychiatry and manager of the UCI Health’s Medical Ethics Program said connected The Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders.”

UCI spokespeople declined to remark for this story.

‘Liberating’

Kheriaty contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, successful mid-2020. His corruption was confirmed by 2 antithetic tests from 2 autarkic labs. His 5 children and woman besides contracted the disease. They each recovered, with nary requiring infirmary care.

“It was, for me, really a precise liberating acquisition afterward, due to the fact that I didn’t person to interest astir the unwellness anymore. I knew the subject connected earthy immunity,” Kheriaty said.

Natural immunity refers to erstwhile radical declaration COVID-19 and recover. Dozens of studies person documented that these individuals bask beardown immunity against CCP microorganism re-infection. Some of the studies suggest the immunity is superior to that provided by COVID-19 vaccines, peculiarly the Johnson & Johnson one.

“I knew that astatine that point, I was among the safest radical to beryllium around, I didn’t person to interest astir transmitting the corruption to my patients,” Kheriaty said.

He continued taking precautions, wearing idiosyncratic protective instrumentality similar masks arsenic required astatine the hospital. But helium was assured helium didn’t airs a hazard to others, which served arsenic a relief.

That alleviation turned into disbelief when, astir a twelvemonth later, the University of California system, which includes UCI, imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Opt-Out is Temporary

The mandate (pdf) included a earthy immunity opt-out, but lone temporarily. People who recovered from COVID-19 were told they would lone beryllium exempt from the mandate for up to 90 days aft their diagnosis.

University officials cited the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which alleges that the antibody tests it has authorized “are not validated to measure circumstantial immunity oregon extortion from SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

SARS-CoV-2 is different sanction for the CCP virus.

“For this reason, individuals who person been diagnosed with COVID-19 oregon had an antibody trial are not permanently exempt from vaccination,” officials said.

The mandate violated rights outlined successful the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, including adjacent extortion and substantive owed process, Kheriaty’s lawsuit asserts.

“Plaintiff is people immune to SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, plaintiff is astatine slightest arsenic as situated arsenic those who are afloat vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, yet defendants contradict plaintiff adjacent attraction and question to load Plaintiff with an unnecessary usurpation of bodily integrity to which plaintiff does not consent successful bid to beryllium allowed to proceed to enactment astatine UCI,” it states.

The concern creates 2 classes, vaccinated and unvaccinated, erstwhile a much tenable part would beryllium those who are immune and those who are not, Kheriaty believes.

“What benignant of discriminatory policies bash we person successful spot that are excluding idiosyncratic similar maine from the workplace erstwhile I’m 99.8 percent protected against reinfection whereas idiosyncratic who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, by the company’s ain information that they submitted to the FDA, is 67 percent protective against COVID infection?” helium said.

Whose Burden?

Kheriaty initially planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Now he’s moving to alteration the communicative astir mandates.

Some accidental projected earthy immunity opt-outs for the mandates would beryllium marque it overmuch much hard to ascertain who meets the threshold, versus a vaccine mandate with nary lasting proviso for post-infection.

Most mandates crossed the state don’t person alternatives for radical who had COVID-19 and recovered.

Kheriaty proposes putting the load of impervious connected radical who privation to opt out.

“Just person them spell get the investigating connected their ain time. You don’t person to administer the T-cell trial oregon the antibody test. You don’t person to spell excavation up their aged aesculapian grounds establishing that they’ve already had COVID,” helium said.

“Just inquire them to bring that successful and motion disconnected connected that arsenic a benignant of immunity passport.”

Side Effects

The colonisation of those who recovered and inactive got a vaccine is known arsenic having “hybrid immunity.”

A ample portion of the aesculapian wellness establishment, including each national nationalist wellness agencies, downplay earthy immunity. They say it exists but that hybrid immunity is better.

“I’m not denying astatine each that radical who get infected and retrieve person a sizeable grade of immunity,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime manager of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said past month. “We besides know—and I deliberation we should not fto this walk without saying it—that erstwhile you get infected and recover, a) you get a bully grade of immunity, but b) erstwhile you get vaccinated, you dramatically summation that protection, which is thing that’s truly rather good.”

A spokesperson for Fauci’s bureau told The Epoch Times successful an email that helium sourced from respective studies, including 1 from researchers astatine the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center successful Seattle. They found that a COVID-19 vaccine based connected messenger RNA fixed pursuing COVID-19 corruption boosted neutralizing antibodies.

Many studies, however, amusement the immunity post-infection is already sky-high for many, starring to questions astir wherefore the recovered would past spell get a vaccine that, similar each jab, has broadside effects.

Kheriaty worries astir different probe that seems to show vaccine recipients with earthy immunity acquisition broadside effects astatine a higher frequence than those who are not immune who get a shot.

“There are present astir 5 autarkic studies that powerfully suggest that individuals that already person earthy immunity, erstwhile you vaccinate them, the hazard of vaccine adverse events oregon vaccine broadside effects is higher for that group,” the prof said. “They person higher hazard of broadside effects from the vaccine. It’s not going to assistance the radical astir them due to the fact that earthy immunity already is sterilizing, [yet] we don’t yet person immoderate COVID vaccines that connection sterilizing immunity.”