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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is introducing legislation which would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide Congress with data relating to the effectiveness of natural immunity in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Dubbed the Natural Immunity Transparency Act, Roy’s bill would require HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to report to Congress the number of unvaccinated individuals who recovered from a COVID infection and how many of those people died, were hospitalized, tested positive again, and/or spread the virus to another person.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks at a news conference about the National Defense Authorization Bill at the U.S. Capitol on September 22, 2021. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(Kevin Dietsch)
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The measure, should it pass successfully, would also require Becerra to provide Congress with information relating to those who have received the recommended number of vaccine doses and how many of those people have passed away, were hospitalized, and/or had a “breakthrough case.”
“The Biden administration and their public health ‘experts’ have made it abundantly clear that they will prioritize government power over personal freedom every time when it comes to COVID policy,” Roy told Fox News. “They are either unwilling to provide, or negligently not tracking, critical information to the American people on natural immunity acquired from a previous COVID infection while pushing unconstitutional and wrong-headed vaccine mandates with the power of government.”
In this Oct. 5, 2021, file photo a healthcare worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
“The American people deserve answers and honest information, which is why we need the Natural Immunity Transparency Act,” Roy said, adding that the measure will “force HHS to collect and report to Congress data on natural immunity.”
In September, a group of congressional physicians, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., penned a letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky and called on the agency to “recognize natural immunity” against the coronavirus.
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“We urge the CDC to acknowledge natural immunity and work with other federal agencies to ensure all future guidance, policies and federally-funded research take this evidence into account and build off it,” the lawmakers wrote at the time.
A recent report from CDC researchers found that patients hospitalized with COVID-like symptoms were five times more likely to test positive for Sars-Cov-2, if they were unvaccinated and had a prior history of having COVID-19, compared to those who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine and had no history of coronavirus infection.
