”Natural immunity following Covid infection is equal to (indeed, superior to) vaccine-mediated immunity. Thus, forcing those with natural immunity to be vaccinated introduces unnecessary risks without commensurate benefits—either to individuals or to the population as a whole—and violates their equal protection rights guaranteed under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment,” Kheriaty wrote in a Sep. 21 blog post.
“Expert witness declarations in support of our case include, among others, a declaration from distinguished UC School of Medicine faculty members from infectious disease, microbiology/immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, pediatrics, OB/Gyn, and psychiatry,” the post continues (click here to read the rest).
…there is now considerable evidence that Covid recovered individuals may be at higher risk of vaccine adverse effects compared to those not previously infected (as seen in studies here, here, and here, among others). -Dr. Aaron Kheriaty
In a Wednesday update, Kheriaty writes that he’s been placed on ‘investigatory leave’ over his failure to comply with the mandate:
“Here is the latest move by the University of California in response to my lawsuit in Federal court challenging their vaccine mandate on behalf of Covid-recovered individuals with natural immunity. Last Thursday Sept 30th at 5:03 PM I received this letter from the University informing me that, as of the following morning, I was being placed on “Investigatory Leave” for my failure to comply with the vaccine mandate. I was given no opportunity to contact my patients, students, residents, or colleagues and let them know I would disappear for a month. Rather than waiting for the court to make a ruling on my case, the University has taken preemptive action:
“You might be thinking, a month of paid leave doesn’t sound so bad. But the language is misleading here, since half of my income from the University comes from clinical revenues generated from seeing my patients, supervising resident clinics, and engaging in weekend and holiday on-call duties. So while on leave my salary is significantly cut. Furthermore, my contract stipulates that I am not able to conduct any patient care outside the University: to see my current patients, or to recoup my losses by moonlighting as a physician elsewhere, would violate the terms of my contract.
“It came as no surprise that, since my request for a preliminary injunction was not granted by the court, the University would immediately begin procedures to dismiss me. However, in the complicated legal game of three-dimensional chess I did not anticipate this particular development: the current administrative designation, where I am neither able to work at the University nor permitted to pursue work elsewhere, was not a development I had anticipated. The University may be hoping this pressure will lead me to resign “voluntarily,” which would remove grounds for my lawsuit: if I resign prior to being terminated by the University, I have no legal claim of harm.
“I have no intention at this time of resigning, withdrawing my lawsuit, or having an unnecessary medical intervention forced on me, in spite of these challenging circumstances. You may be wondering about the CA Department of Public Health vaccine mandate mentioned in the University’s letter above: yes, I am subject to two mandates, the UC mandate as a faculty member and the CA State mandate as a healthcare provider. Regarding the latter mandate, I filed a similar lawsuit in Federal court last Friday against the State Public Health Department. I will post more later on that case as it develops.
“Although this is a challenging time for me and my family, at this time I remain convinced that this course of action is worthwhile. I am grateful for your ongoing encouragement, prayers, and support. I want my readers to know that am taking legal action not primarily for myself, but for all those who have no voice and whose Constitutional rights are being steamrolled by these mandates. As I wrote in my first post:
“In my position, I came to see the importance of representing those whose voices were silenced, and to insist upon the right of informed consent and informed refusal. I have nothing personal to gain by this lawsuit and a lot to lose professionally. In the end, my decision to challenge these mandates came down to this question: How can I continue to call myself a medical ethicist if I fail to do what I am convinced is morally right under pressure?
“Many of you have asked how you can support me and my efforts to challenge coercive mandates. My first answer is to consider becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter if you are not already, and share this newsletter with others who are interested in following these issues. In the coming weeks I will be expanding my work on this Substack platform with live podcasts and audience Q&A for paid subscribers.
“For those who may wish to contribute more: I serve as Senior Fellow and Director of the Program in Health & Human Flourishing at the Zephyr Institute in Palo Alto, California. For the foreseeable future, the Program I direct there will focus on gathering and supporting experts, scholars, and leaders who are questioning various aspects of our response to this pandemic, and who are offering more effective solutions to the challenges we are facing. You can contribute to my work at the Zephyr Institute by making a donation here and specifying that you want your gift to support “Dr. Kheriaty’s work in the Health and Human Flourishing Program.”
“This legal fight is important not only to set appropriate limits to vaccine mandates. It is also important for the future that — now in this crucial moment — we refuse to allow our institutions to set dangerous and unjust precedents. Today’s precedents could later facilitate even more coercive mandates and infringements on civil liberties by unelected officials, done during a declared “state of exception” or emergency that has no defined terminus—a dangerous precedent for a democratic society.
“I want to thank all of you for being a part of this movement and for engaging with and encouraging my work on this issue. I could not do this without you.”
* * *
Kheriaty’s situation is similar to that of Canadian ethics professor, Dr. Julie Ponesse, who made headlines last month after filming a now-viral tear-filled statement before she was fired by Huron University College in Ontario.
The above comes from an Oct. 8 story in Zero Hedge.
The Gestapo is diligent in crushing decent.
You must be doing exactly the right thing.
Fr. John Higgins
This is sad in so many ways. So much for universities being places for the free exchange of ideas.
It seems no one is permitted to question those in power.
(And, I’m not opposed to vaccines, only to totalitarianism.)
May God bless this good Catholic doctor and his family.
Just as Pope Benedict XVI, during his tenure at the Congregation for Doctrine and Faith, censured, condemned and withdrew the teaching licenses of theologians who did not view the Catholic faith in the same manner as he, so too the University of California can censure faculty who do not abide by its policies. As Dr Kheriaty noted himself, he has other options. Undoubtedly, a Catholic Medical School may have a need for faculty in its department of psychiatry; or he can go into private practice. When one works for the federal government or a state government, one must abide by their rule and policies.
What a ridiculous comment! The U of C must abide by the U.S. Constitution, which is quite distinct from Canon Law.
That’s a fair point, which I understand. I spent more than 30 years as a civil servant. Yet, don’t employees have some rights too? I know of some in law enforcement, education and health care who’ve gotten religious exemptions or were permitted to have weekly COVID tests in lieu of the COVID vaccinations. I’ve been vaccinated many times over the years and, in the Fire service, we were permitted to sign a waiver and decline vaccinations. I deemed them to be prudent and received them. But, I was not coerced or forced.
And, are you sure Dr. Kheriaty is not being punished for stating views contrary to those of those in power? It seems he was. This seems to be about more than just his being one guy who is choosing not to receive the COVID vaccines. We don’t even know if he did, do we? Of course, suing one’s employer has its repercussions, but, he sued only because they mandated COVID vaccinations, without, apparently, exceptions. What sort of medical procedures might the government (as the University of California is a part of) next mandate for its employees, and students (paid for by all of us taxpayers)?
“ not view the Catholic faith in the same manner as he”. What a terrible statement. The Catholic faith is from Jesus, not Pope B XVI.
Besides, this statement is not anologous to rejecting a drug that is being forced without one’s consent (against the Nuremberg Code of Ethics and the US Constitution).
It reminds of the history of US entry into the First World War. On evidence, I would have supported it, but can still be revulsed at the shameless and sometimes brutal bullying of Woodrow Wilson and his political allies against opposition to the war.
A teacher of the Catholic faith must teach the Catholic Faith. They cannot teach other ideas or tenets.
It is not a matter of viewing the Faith differently. or not obeying a policy.
I wouldn’t have problems exempting someone who previously had COVID from vaccine mandates if they can prove it. I think that since many people think they had COVID but never got tested, and many people who got tested did so anonymously, it may be difficult to prove. I wonder if they would be willing to undergo an antibody test?
What business is it of yours? This is a free country.
Free Country it would be nice if I could attend a class Free of Virus. That’s my business.
You attend knowing there’s a risk of virus, fire, flood, earthquake, tsunami, robbery, runaway bus….
Life is not a zero sum game, stay home if you are scared.
Perhaps if they could be sure the results of the test would be respected?
Test results, I’m sorry but I’m not sure I understand your question. The question I posed at the end of my post at 10:45 AM presupposed that he would take an antibody test that would be an accepted alternative to vaccination. Does that answer it?
That’s what I meant: that his results would be an officially accepted alternative by the state and his employer.
He already proved it with antibody tests.
Brian, thank you, where did you see that he proved it with antibody tests? This article doesn’t seem to say that . I looked at his website and tried to download his legal filings but they failed to load, at least on my system. In any case, I am stating my opinion, not necessarily that of the school, that a positive antibody test ought to be acceptable.
Now Fauci is saying that vaccinated people should wear masks outdoors. It’s all a farce. The vaccines are fake medicine. They are admitting in so many ways that the vaccines don’t work. If the vaccines work then why do vaccinated people have to wear masks outdoors? Why are they getting severe covid? Stop it I say.
Stop it, they are learning. They can only learn from the data available. I think the media put them in positions of trying to answer questions that nobody knows the answer to yet and they don’t want “we don’t know” as an answer.
Smart is to wear a mask if you are close to others outside your family indoors or out. Even if vaccinated. It is 2 layers of protection rather than one. Behave as if the other person has Covid.
You can get Covid more than once. I know of someone who caught it 3 times.
From what I have read, and I’m not an MD or Ph.D., if have had covid and survived, you do have some immunity for a while. The data suggest that you are better off getting the vaccine than not getting it. We are all in this together, so let’s try to get as much protection as possible so that we don’t get the virus ourselves or pass it on to others. If someone gets the vaccine, can they still get covid? Of course!!! But, they will likely never have symptoms that will put them in the hospital or kill them. They will likely be asymptomatic.
You would like living in Australia, I think.
“We are all in this together,” ba ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…the guy who just lost his business has zero in common with thugs issuing edicts from on high.
Scared little people and power hungry politicians are creating a caste system which we must reject. Every time you libs try to push around the unvaccinated, you are giving away Your freedom and privacy too.
Bob one, because your were proud of your family attending the women’s march (an abortion fest), we must conclude you are proabortion so using the proabortion logic, you should celebrate a fight for autonomy from forced vaccines which may kill or harm the patient.
The people I know who had Covid and then got vaccinated had no adverse effects.
My niece just tested positive for Covid. She had a cough for a week and her dad gave her a test. Came out positive. Big whoop. A cough. That’s what Covid is for her.
So, the way it works for some is that they have mild symptoms and then get better and then it gets worse again. If that happens have her seen immediately.
Praying for her.
Prayers for you and family, Dr Keriaty. Thanks for fighting this fight.
A good christian would be vaccinated against COVID-19 as an act of love for his neighbor since this would reduce his likely-hood of infecting his neighbor. Even with some natural immunity the risk will be reduced further with a vaccination. Voluntarily do what is good for the community. Get fully vaccinated now.