# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140 "2020-06-22T07:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 424
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8496 "2021-11-21T20:28:20Z")
Republicans: Don’t want to get the vaccine? Get covid instead, and it’s all good! "TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republicans fighting President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough immunity and antibodies to not need COVID-19 vaccines, and the concept has been invoked by Republicans as a sort of stand-in for vaccines. " > **[GOP embraces natural immunity as substitute for vaccines](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccines-natural-immunity-285ae319be9c3ea42dd7bb8400ea4888)** > > TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republicans fighting President Joe Biden's coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough... ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8497 "2021-11-21T21:45:46Z")
Dying from COVID gives you natural immunity too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8498 "2021-11-21T22:09:20Z")
And it protects other people. Win-win. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8499 "2021-11-22T00:49:44Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Republicans: Don’t want to get the vaccine? Get covid instead, and it’s all good! > > "TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republicans fighting President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. > They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough immunity and antibodies to not need COVID-19 vaccines, and the concept has been invoked by Republicans as a sort of stand-in for vaccines. " > [GOP embraces natural immunity as substitute for vaccines](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccines-natural-immunity-285ae319be9c3ea42dd7bb8400ea4888) Every study done so far hammers home the point that “natural immunity” protects _less_ and protects _for a shorter time_ than vaccines: > [@](#): > > Nov. 1, 2021 – Unvaccinated people who had a recent infection were five times more likely to be reinfected with the coronavirus compared to those who were fully vaccinated and didn’t have a prior infection, according to a [new study](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7044e1.htm?s_cid=mm7044e1_w) published Friday in the CDC’s _Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report_ . > > The research team concluded that vaccination can provide a higher, stronger, and more consistent level of immunity against COVID-19 hospitalization than infection alone for at least six months… This particular study DID include the Delta variant. And there are plenty of other such studies. This new Republican idea is as stupid as stupid gets. > **[COVID-19 Vaccines](https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/covid-19-vaccine)** > > Vaccines are seen as one of the best ways to stop COVID-19. Learn more about the types of vaccines, including the newly approved Novavax. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8500 "2021-11-22T01:11:20Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Every study done so far hammers home the point that “natural immunity” protects _less_ and protects _for a shorter time_ than vaccines: That’s just science, and everyone knows that scientists are socialists. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8501 "2021-11-22T01:16:42Z")
Also, death. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8502 "2021-11-22T01:19:02Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > That’s just science, and everyone knows that scientists are socialists. Worse - scientists are statist hive-mind _Marxists_. 😱 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8503 "2021-11-22T01:21:51Z")
I’m amused that they keep touting “natural” immunity as though it was just a course of life. It sounds good, natural. Sign me up. Whatd’ya mean I have to get sick with covid to (theoretically) make that happen? You said it was natural, but I could have avoided it; I could have prevented it. So it’s natural in the same sense that getting run over by a fucking car is natural. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8504 "2021-11-22T01:38:09Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > So it’s natural in the same sense that getting run over by a fucking car is natural. To be sure, getting run over by a car (if sufficiently successful) will protect you from subsequently getting hit by a freight train. Unfortunately, that’s not a good analogy. Compared with Covid, a better analogy would be, getting hit by a freight train will protect you from subsequently getting hit by a marshmallow. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8505 "2021-11-22T14:15:46Z")
There is also the “[long covid](https://www.webmd.com/lung/what-is-long-covid-pasc#1)” hazard, in which some undesirable effects can persist for weeks/months after recovery from the fluishness. Natural immunity is kind of unhelpful if you continue to feel like shit. There is something like an 80~90% chance you will not get long covid, but is that a risk you want to roll against? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8506 "2021-11-22T14:25:35Z")
Doing the math on this is something the Republicans simply refuse to do. Back when I first saw this “Natural immunity” nonsense being touted, I pointed out that “Acquiring natural herd immunity” was just a different way of saying, “Let the pandemic run its course.” The only way to get herd immunity naturally is to let everyone get the virus. Which means a hell of a lot of people will die in the process. They just don’t want to do the math on that. The only saving grace I can see now is that this attitude is so much more prevalent in the fringe GOP population that those deaths will be disproportionately Republicans dying. So, yeah, go ahead and screw up your election chances, guys. I’d really prefer it to not go that way, but they’ve proven themselves immune to reasonable discussion, so I’ve basically given up, and now just accept this as the inevitable end game of this pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8507 "2021-11-22T14:26:26Z")
How well did that “natural immunity” thing work out for stuff like the black plague, or smallpox, or polio? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8508 "2021-11-22T14:33:25Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The only saving grace I can see now is that this attitude is so much more prevalent in the fringe GOP population that those deaths will be disproportionately Republicans dying. So, yeah, go ahead and screw up your election chances, guys. Unfortunately, they also act as breeding pools for the virus to try out new and exciting mutations that may lower the effectiveness of the protection given to those of us that did get the vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8509 "2021-11-22T14:35:28Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Unfortunately, they also act as breeding pools for the virus to try out new and exciting mutations that may lower the effectiveness of the protection given to those of us that did get the vaccine. Yeah, but we’ll also be working on improved vaccines, and it’s a good bet that the Republicans will continue to refuse those vaccines as well. This won’t be pleasant for anyone, but it will still, on average, be worse for Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8510 "2021-11-22T14:40:08Z")
So being a zombie would be “unnatural immunity”? (If there isn’t a COVID zombie movie out yet I will be amazed). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8511 "2021-11-22T14:40:54Z")
Pretty sure the COVID zombies would _run away_ from brainz… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8512 "2021-11-22T15:55:34Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > How well did that “natural immunity” thing work out for stuff like the black plague, or smallpox, or polio? Yersinia Pestis is a bacterium. We do not develop immunity to bacteria. The Black Plague was brought under control by figuring out the nature of the plague vector and changing our habits to reduce the spread. Smallpox and polio are types of viruses that can be effectively vaccinated against, whereas coronaviruses, in part because of their multitude of binding spikes, are much more difficult to suppress. Influenzas are coronaviruses, which is why there is a new flu vaccine every year. They are really hard to defeat. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8513 "2021-11-22T16:04:22Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Influenzas are coronaviruses, which is why there is a new flu vaccine every year. They are really hard to defeat. Influenza viruses belong to the viral family Orthomyxoviridae, which are negative-sense ss RNA viruses. Coronaviruses belong to their own family, Coronaviridae, which are positive-sense ss RNA viruses. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8514 "2021-11-22T16:09:31Z")
Damn, I love this board. Go suck eggs, Reddit and Quora. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/8515 "2021-11-22T16:33:28Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > They just don’t want to do the math on that. There are over [330-million people](https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/) in the US. The current death rate is [1.4%](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality). 4.6-million dead is a statistic unpalatable to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=423) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=425)