Denial of Natural Immunity in CMS Vaccine Mandate ‘Unprecedented in Modern History’: Scott Atlas

Scott Atlas (L), senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany arrive ahead of President Donald Trump for a news conference at the White House in Washington, on Aug. 12, 2020. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo, File

Denying natural immunity in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) vaccine mandates is “unprecedented in modern history,” a prominent public health expert said.

Dr. Scott Atlas, a former White House COVID-19 Task Force adviser during the Trump administration, made the remarks after the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decide to uphold the CMS vaccine mandates in a Thursday ruling.

He told The Epoch Times that the ruling is “another serious denial of scientific fact” specifically mentioning the denial of natural immunity in CMS vaccine mandates.

“Our continued denial of superior protection in recovered individuals, with or without vaccination, compared to vaccinated individuals who’ve never had the infection,” he said. “The denial of that is simply unprecedented in modern history, proven fact and decades of fundamental immunology are somehow denied.”

“If we are a society where the leaders repeatedly deny the fact, I’m very concerned about the future of such a society,” he added.

The Epoch Times reached out to the SCOTUS, CMS, and the White House for comments.

Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool/Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration’s private business vaccine mandate imposed by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Meanwhile, America’s highest court decided to uphold the CMS vaccine mandate covering 10.4 million health care workers at 76,000 medical facilities.

In the 5–4 ruling in the CMS vaccine mandate, John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh joined the Democrat-nominated trio of justices, while Clarence Thomas offered a dissent that was joined by Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.

The majority of the court stated that the vaccine mandate “falls within the authorities that Congress has conferred upon” the Health and Human Service Secretary (HHS) Xavier Becerra.

CMS is part of the HHS.

The ruling also disagrees with the dozens of red states who said that CMS failed to consider the benefits of natural immunity.

“Given the rule-making record, it cannot be maintained that the Secretary failed to ‘examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for’ his decisions to require vaccination of employees with ‘natural immunity’ from prior COVID-19 illness,” read the majority opinion (pdf).

CMS applauded the SCOTUS ruling saying it’s “extremely pleased” for the results.

“We look forward to working with health care providers and their workers to protect patients. We will continue our extensive outreach and assistance efforts encouraging individuals working in health care to get vaccinated,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a statement.