Psychiatry professor at UC Irvine sues over college's vax mandate saying previous COVID infection means he's immune
A professor in California is suing the university where he works over a COVID-19 vaccination mandate, saying that he already contracted the virus and is now 'naturally immune' to it.
Aaron Kheriaty, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of California Irvine's School of Medicine, filed a lawsuit against the school, saying he caught COVID-19 in July 2020.
The University of California school system announced in July 2021 that all faculty, staff and students MUST be vaccinated against the virus two weeks before fall semester classes start.
'In fighting off the virus, his body created a robust natural immunity to every antigen on the COVID-19 virus, not just the spike protein of the virus as happens with the COVID-19 vaccines,' the lawsuit states.
Psychiatry professor Aaron Kheriaty is suing UC Irvine over the college's vaccine mandate, saying previous COVID-19 infection means he's 'naturally immune' to the virus
The University of California system (pictured) announced in July 2021 that all faculty, staff and students must be vaccinated against COVID two weeks before they’re expected to be on campus for the fall semester
'Nevertheless, UCI has told Plaintiff that he cannot return to his teaching position unless he receives a COVID-19 vaccine.'
'Thus, UC is treating him differently by refusing to readmit him to campus when other individuals who are considered immune to the virus are being admitted back simply because their immunity was created by a vaccine.'
A recent study from the University of Missouri, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, said while there is a low risk of being re-infected with COVID-19, the stakes are higher for some.
According to the study, 63 people out of 9,119 - less than one percent - with severe COVID-19 symptoms got the virus again, in an average of three and a half months, after testing positive the first time.
Recent studies have shown that people who get vaccinated after contracting COVID-19 have a lower risk of getting infected again than those who remain unvaccinated
Another study led by the University of Kentucky showed that COVID-19 vaccines offer better protection against reinfection, than natural immunity.
In a group of 740 people who tested positive for the coronavirus in the past, those who were still unvaccinated were more than twice as likely to contract the virus again than people who got double-jabbed.
Although research is ongoing to compare protection from vaccines and natural immunization from infection, experts still strongly advise getting a shot after infection.
PICTURED: A sign in one of the student housing communities lets students know what they can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 at the University of California, Irvine
'There's nothing deleterious about getting a boost to an immune response that you've had before,' Dr. Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, told The New York Times.
'You could get an actually even better immune response by boosting whatever immunity you had from the first infection by a vaccine.'
In the lawsuit, Kheriaty, who is a medical doctor, claims he is 'already naturally immune to the virus' and 'less likely to infect other individuals than are people who have been vaccinated.'
It labels the vaccine mandate as 'irrational' and says “by targeting people who have had the virus but remain unvaccinated, the mandate unfairly singles out one unpopular group for disparate treatment."
Meanwhile, the number of infections has continued to surge across the U.S., taking into account the percentage of the general population's vaccine hesitancy and the delta variant —the dominant strain of the virus in the US.
Nearly 4.50 million cases have been reported in California and the seven-day average of new cases is 151,191, as of September 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The reported amount of COVID-19 related deaths is 66,153 in California since the start of the pandemic.
The number of new cases has risen nationwide by 18 percent in the past two weeks, and hospitalizations have increased by 18 percent in the same period as of September 2, according to The New York Times.
More than 205 million people have received at least one jab of some vaccine, covering 61.9 percent of the population, as of September 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 174 million eligible people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated.
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