Sen. Roger Marshall Blasts AP for Hit Piece Bashing Reality of Natural Immunity: ‘Journalistic Malpractice’

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) over the weekend blasted the AP after it published a hit piece criticizing the senator for shining a light on the reality of natural immunity to the Chinese coronavirus.

The AP published a piece on Saturday, asserting Marshall touted information on the virus “that defy both medical consensus and official U.S. government guidance.” The publication specifically took issue with Marshall publicly speaking about the reality of natural immunity to the virus — a factor largely ignored by the establishment media and Biden administration as they instead push unadulterated obedience to get vaccinated.

The AP said Marshall has been “pushing unsupported theories about COVID-19 immunity,” complaining of a letter sent by Marshall and several other “GOP doctors, dentists and pharmacists” to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asking the federal health agency to factor in the reality of natural immunity when crafting vaccination policy.

“Experts agree that natural immunity arises after an infection, but the general medical consensus is that the degree of protection varies from person to person and is likely to wane over time,” the AP claimed, largely dismissing the wealth of scientific evidence showing the realities of national immunity and instead falling in line with the administration’s efforts to convince every eligible person to be vaccinated, regardless of those considerations.

“Marshall disputes the guidance that people who’ve had COVID-19 should get vaccinated. In a recent AP interview, he noted his adult children have had COVID-19 and, ‘I don’t think they need the vaccine on top of it,” the AP wrote, citing a GOP strategist who said he “sees a political incentive for Marshall and other lawmakers to focus on the issue of natural immunity.”

Marshall released a fiery statement addressing the AP’s hit piece, first dismissing the attempts to frame him as anti-vaccine:

From the earliest days of this pandemic, I praised the efforts of the Trump administration and Operation Warp Speed to rapidly deliver the American people a safe and effective vaccine. I’ve been inoculated, my family has been inoculated and I’ve worked with many Doctors in Congress and in my home state of Kansas to encourage people to get the vaccine. I also worked to have the FDA approve booster shots for the elderly more quickly.

“John Hanna’s piece is nothing more than a hit job against a Doctor the main stream media now sees as a threat to their one-size-fits-all approach to combatting this virus, one that’s been handed down to them from bureaucrats, ‘experts,’ and politicians who have hijacked this virus to implement unpopular policies and control our lives,” he said, emphasizing that “copious evidence exists to show that those who achieved immunity through natural infection are highly protected against reinfection.”

He continued:

To label these reputable studies as ‘sketchy medical advice’ is journalistic malpractice. As I’ve always said, the vaccine is a choice between individuals and their doctors and those who fall within vulnerable populations should absolutely do so at their earliest convenience. However, multiple studies have shown vaccination on top of natural immunity is not necessary and not without possible harm for large populations of healthy individuals in this country. I will continue to encourage this administration and other health experts to consider natural immunity as a useful tool in accomplishing herd immunity and I will continue to fight against harmful policies out of Washington that impede upon our constitutional rights, hurt Americans wallets, and dishonorably discharge American heroes for choosing to not get the COVID vaccine.

Notably, Marshall is among Republican lawmakers who have been pressing against President Biden’s vaccine mandate, proposing an amendment last month prohibit funding for enforcing Biden’s forthcoming coronavirus vaccine mandate on private companies. He is also among GOP lawmakers who introduced legislation prohibiting the Department of Defense (DOD) from giving servicemembers a dishonorable discharge for refusing to get vaccinated for the coronavirus.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has also been at the helm of the ongoing political infighting over the reality of natural immunity. He grilled Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing last month after the Biden health official mocked coronavirus survivors who are refusing the vaccine as “flat-earthers.”

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