WASHINGTON (TND) — Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the debate over vaccines and herbal immunity remains a rift between Democrats and Republicans as they analyze the country’s response to the pandemic.
Medical experts testified before Congress Thursday at a hearing titled “Pandemic Immunity Research: Acquired, Therapeutic, or Both. “
The House oversight subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic sought to figure out why fitness officials dismissed herbal immunity as a valid defense and considered vaccines as a way to combat COVID-19.
“I think we can all agree that in the beginning nobody knew exactly what, so we were all looking for a vaccine, but at the same time, we thought about herbal immunity,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio.
The Republican witness, Dr. Marty Makary, a professor and fitness expert at Johns Hopkins University, said Democrats and the experts who supported them didn’t get it.
“Let’s not forget this mountain of evidence,” Makary said. “I don’t like all-or-nothing talk. Depend completely on herbal immunity. Doctors are personalizing treatments. This all-or-nothing cult around the vaccine.
He and other Republican witnesses say this technique is a real harm, especially in the beginning, when vaccines were in very limited quantities.
Democrats on the committee say pandemic leaders did what they could with what they had.
“Shifting blame as we work to perceive this in combination is certainly the way to go,” said Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis this week signed a new permanent ban on businesses and government entities requiring COVID-19 vaccines or discriminating against unvaccinated employees.
Democrats worry that the ongoing investigation may only raise doubts about the vaccine, while Republicans say it’s to understand what happened so lawmakers can do more in the future.