Offspring Band boots drummer for refusal to get COVID vaccine — even though he has natural immunity

Peter Parada, drummer for the California-based band, Offspring, was dropped from the band’s upcoming tour because — on the recommendation of his doctor — he refused to get the COVID vaccine, since he has a history of Guillain–Barré syndrome and already has natural immunity to COVID.

By Megan Redshaw

Pete Parada, drummer for the Californian rock band Offspring, said he was ousted from the band because he refused to get a COVID vaccine, despite having already had COVID and acquiring natural immunity.

In an Instagram post, Parada said:

“Since I am unable to comply with what is increasingly becoming an industry mandate, it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio and on tour. I mention this because you won’t be seeing me at these upcoming shows. I also want to share my story so that anyone else experiencing the agony and isolation of getting left behind right now knows they’re not entirely alone.”

Parada, who had COVID more than a year ago, said he was medically advised not to take the vaccine due to his “personal medical history and the side-effect profile” of COVID vaccines.

Parada has a history of Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), a serious but rare autoimmune disorder linked to multiple vaccines, including COVID vaccines.

Parada said he was confident he could handle the virus again, but could not handle another round of post-vaccination GBS, which dates back to his childhood and has become progressively worse over his lifetime.

“The risks far outweigh the benefits,” he said.

Parada said he has no negative feelings towards the band. “They’re doing what they believe is best for them,” he said, “while I am doing the same.”

Parada explained:

“There are countless folks (like me) for whom these shots carry a greater risk than the virus. Most of us don’t publicly share a private medical decision we made with careful consideration with our doctor. We know it’s not an easy conversation to unfold.

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“If it looks like half the population is having a shockingly different reaction to these jabs than what was expected –– it’s probably because their life experiences have have actually been shockingly different, and their reasons range from a conscientious risk/benefit analysis, to the financial inability to take time off work/lack of healthcare in the event of potential side effects to an understandable distrust in the system that has never prioritized the health and well-being of their communities.”

Also Read: Post-COVID vaccines jabs deaths, injuries hit 500,000 in 7 months

In a series of tweets, Parada said he unequivocally supports informed consent — “which necessitates choice unburdened by coercion” –– and does not find it “ethical or wise” to allow those with the most power, including government, corporations, organizations or employers to “dictate medical procedures to those with the least power.”

I’ve got some unfortunate and difficult news to share. I know many of my close friends and family would’ve preferred to hear this privately first – and I apologize for the public nature of my disclosure, but I don’t know how to have this conversation multiple times. 1/17

— Pete Parada (@PeteParada) August 2, 2021

Parada encouraged others to make room for all perspectives and to refrain from dehumanizing, dominating or shutting down the voices of the vaccine-hesitant.

Offspring has not commented on Parada’s statement. Parada has played with the group since 2007, and is featured on their four most recent albums.

Parada joins a number of vaccine-hesitant celebrities in the music world, including Eric Clapton — who suffered an adverse reaction to AstraZeneca’s vaccine — Ian Brown, Richard Ashcroft, Van Morrison and Noel Gallagher, who have all voiced concerns over COVID vaccines.

For those with long-lasting natural immunity, vaccines provide no benefit

Since the first COVID vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization in the U.S., some physicians and scientists have challenged the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine recommendations, citing the lack of science to support vaccinating those who’ve acquired natural immunity.

According to a Cleveland Clinic study released in June, individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID vaccination.

Also Read: Exposed! What vaccine manufacturers are hiding from citizens   

The Cleveland Clinic studied the effectiveness of COVID vaccination among people with a history of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and those without. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the necessity of COVID vaccination in persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2.

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The study, available on medRxiv, provides insight into how the immune system protects the body once a COVID infection is confirmed, the Cleveland Clinic said.

The clinic studied 52,238 employees. Of those, 49,659 never had the virus and 2,579 had COVID and recovered. Of the 2,579 who previously were infected, 1,359, or 53%, remained unvaccinated, compared with 41%, or 22,777 who were vaccinated.

The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection remained almost zero among three groups — those previously infected who remained unvaccinated; those previously infected who were vaccinated; and those previously uninfected who were vaccinated — compared with a steady increase in cumulative incidence among previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated.

Only 0.7% of infections occurred in participants who were not previously infected but were currently vaccinated. Not one of the 1,359 previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated had a SARS-CoV-2 infection over the duration of the study.

The study’s conclusion supports what others, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have said about immunity in those previously infected with the virus — that it is unlikely people can get COVID more than once.

During a May 24 interview with John Catsimatidis on his radio show WABC 770 AM, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a physician, said he was making the personal decision not to get vaccinated because he already had COVID and had acquired natural immunity. Paul said there was no evidence to support vaccinating people who’ve already had the disease.

Paul said studies show people with natural immunity have just as good of immunity as people who’ve been vaccinated, and until people who’ve had it naturally are getting infected more than people who’ve been vaccinated, he’s not going to change his mind.

Paul pointed to a study published on JAMA Network showing vaccines and naturally acquired immunity effectively neutralize COVID variants.

In a May 27 op-ed in the Courier Journal, Paul wrote:

“To dictate that a person recovered from COVID-19 with natural immunity also submit to a vaccine — without scientific evidence — is nothing more than hubris. If you have no proof that people who acquired natural immunity are getting or transmitting the disease in real numbers, then perhaps you should just be quiet.”

Paul said people are getting re-infected in large numbers after being vaccinated, but people are not getting reinfected after having the disease naturally.

Data recently collected from 38 states by NBC News showed more than 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans tested positive for COVID and 1,400 people died.

As COVID—especially Delta variant—surges among fully vaccinated, Brian Hooker, Ph.D., said the more variant deviates from original sequence used for vaccine, the less effective vaccine will be on variant.

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According to a recent CDC study, 74% of people infected in a recent COVID outbreak in Barnstable County, Massachusetts were fully vaccinated.

The CDC’s latest breakthrough numbers, as of July 25, show 6,587 fully vaccinated people with COVID breakthrough cases. Of those, 6,239 people were hospitalized and 1,263 people died.

In May, the CDC revised its guidance for reporting breakthrough cases, stating it would count only those cases that result in hospitalization or death. Previously, the agency had included in its breakthrough count anyone who tested positive for COVID.

“Facts are facts,” Paul said. “I’m no more likely to get or transmit COVID than someone who is vaccinated. We know this. Doctors know this. Scientists who design vaccines know this,” Paul said.

According to Paul, vaccines are created to attempt to replicate the immunity we get from having been infected with a disease. “Vaccines are a replacement for natural immunity,” he said. “They aren’t necessarily better. In fact, natural immunity from measles confers lifelong immunity and the vaccine immunity wanes over a few decades.”

Paul pointed to a recent British study where David Wyllie, consultant microbiologist at Public Health England, and others found no symptomatic re-infections from COVID after following 2,800 patients for several months. In fact, Paul wrote “there have been no reports of significant numbers of re-infections after acquiring COVID-19 naturally.”

Shane Crotty, virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, conducted a study analyzing immune cells and antibodies from nearly 200 people who had been exposed to COVID and recovered.

Crotty concluded:

“The amount of (immune) memory (gained from natural infection) would likely prevent the vast majority of people from getting … severe disease, for many years.”

The results, published in Science, showed the immune systems of more than 95% of people who recovered from COVID had durable memories of the virus up to eight months after infection. Previous studies showed natural infection induced a strong response, but this study showed that response lasted, said co-author Dr. Daniela Weiskopf.

In a recent study in The Lancet, Dr. Florian Kramer noted:

“The findings of the authors suggest that infection and the development of antibody response provides protection similar to or even better than currently used SARS COV-2 vaccines.”

During a meeting June 23 with members of a CDC’s advisory committee Dr. Leslie Moore, physician and mother, challenged the data on COVID vaccines saying it is atrocious and frightening.

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“Natural immunity is always better than vaccine immunity — anyone who says otherwise needs to go back to medical school,” Moore told committee members.

Vaccinating people who’ve already had COVID could increase risk of harm

Some scientists suggest vaccinating those who’ve already had COVID pose potential risks, including death. Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, accomplished surgeon and patient safety advocate, has written several letters to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging the agency to require pre-screening for SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins in order to reduce COVID vaccine injuries and deaths.

According to Noorchasm, it is scientifically established that once a person is naturally infected by a virus, antigens from that virus persist in the body for a long time after viral replication has stopped and clinical signs of infection have resolved. When a vaccine reactivates an immune response in a recently infected person, the tissues harboring the persisting viral antigen are targeted, inflamed and damaged by the immune response.

Noorchasm explained:

“In the case of SARS-CoV-2, we know that the virus naturally infects the heart, the inner lining of blood vessels, the lungs and the brain. So, these are likely to be some of the critical organs that will contain persistent viral antigens in the recently infected — and, following reactivation of the immune system by a vaccine, these tissues can be expected to be targeted and damaged.”

Noorchasm is not alone. Colleen Kelley, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine and principal investigator for Moderna and Novavax phase 3 vaccine clinical trials in Atlanta, said, in an interview with Huffington Post, there have been reported cases in which those who previously had the virus endured harsher side effects after they received their vaccines.

“Anecdotally, it does appear that people who may have had COVID-19 before their vaccine do tend to have those longer duration of symptoms,” Kelley said. “But we’re still gathering additional scientific data to really support this.”

In a public submission to the FDA, J. Patrick Whelan M.D. Ph.D., expressed similar concern that COVID vaccines aimed at creating immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein could have the potential to cause microvascular injury to the brain, heart, liver and kidneys in a way that does not currently appear to be assessed in safety trials of these potential drugs.