'Immunity' Bill To Dodge Vaccine Requirements Passes State Senate
WISCONSIN — A bill allowing workers to submit proof of a previous COVID-19 infection in place of getting vaccinated passed the Wisconsin State Senate on Tuesday.
If the bill is signed into law, employers who require proof of vaccination or regular COVID-19 tests would have to accept "natural immunity" through an employee's previous infection. Employees would have to show a positive COVID-19 test to their employer or a serology test that shows naturally occurring antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in their blood.
The bill passed the Assembly Jan. 25. It will head to Gov. Tony Evers' desk next. Evers, a Democrat, isn't expected to sign the bill into law.
Passing the legislation would "coddle" people who avoided getting the shot and those who spread rhetoric against getting vaccinated, state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said in a hearing Tuesday.
"The majority of Wisconsin, who are vaccinated, would like you guys to move on so we can open up again," Larson said.
Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) said that "natural immunity" had been "saving generations for centuries," and accused her opponents of forcing vaccinations.
The senator also shared that she had been infected with both the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19. Larson said that she wouldn't have been infected twice had she been vaccinated.
People who aren't fully vaccinated are three times more likely to get infected, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 14 times more likely to die than those who are, data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services showed.
"We don't know how long that immunity lasts," Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) told the Wisconsin Examiner. Medical groups like the American Cancer Society and the Medical College of Wisconsin have also registered against the bill, Subeck added.
"We don't know how that immunity changes from variant to variant. We do not know what level of immunity is provided in the long term," Subeck said. "What we do know is that individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 frequently get it again."
Among Wisconsinites, 63.6 percent of residents in the state have completed their vaccine series, health services data showed. Of those people who were vaccinated, 1.8 million have received a booster dose.
Health experts agree that getting vaccinated is still the No. 1 way to fight the spread of coronavirus.
"If you have family, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, anyone, anyone, anyone who is over 70 and not yet vaccinated, talk to them," Dr. Ben Weston, the City of Milwaukee's chief medical adviser, said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on the Milwaukee Patch
