What the government really means is 'follow the science (unless it conflicts with our narrative)'

For months and months and months, pundits and politicians complained that Sen. Rand Paul would not wear a mask. Paul claimed immunity due to already contracting COVID-19.

NBC News reported in May, "Rand Paul, the only senator known to have contracted COVID-19, defended his decision not to wear a mask on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, citing his 'immunity' to a disease that top scientists are still trying to understand."

"I have immunity. I've already had the virus, so I can't get it again and I can't give it to anybody," Paul said at the time. "I can't get it again, nor can I transmit. So of all the people you'll meet here, I'm about the only safe person in Washington."

Sen. Sherrod Brown tweeted in February:

In a packed Senate chamber with stenographers and colleagues just feet away from him, @RandPaul refuses to put on a mask - and puts the health of everyone around him at risk.

This isn’t political. WEAR. A. MASK. pic.twitter.com/WJG0xj21Sc — Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) February 5, 2021

Paul had argued that the criticisms of him not wearing a mask were political. He believed that most of what we know about viruses, once you get them you have natural immunity. That Dr. Anthony Fauci and other supposed health experts were claiming the opposite ran counter to most of what we know about such illnesses, Paul argued.

On Thursday, Science magazine published a story titled "Having SARS-CoV-2 once confers much greater immunity than a vaccine—but no infection parties, please."

Science reported, "The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study that some scientists wish came with a 'Don’t try this at home' label."

"The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it, or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19," Science noted.

Science also indicated that those who had COVID-19 and were also vaccinated were likely the most protected against the virus. But the outlet also confirmed what Paul had been insisting throughout: That having COVID-19 gives you natural immunity.

Is Anthony Fauci going to share this data with the public? Is the CDC going to revise its guidelines? Will a single critic of Paul's pandemic behavior now admit he was right about natural immunity? Hell, will any of these people even admit natural immunity is a thing?

No, they won't. Because it is political. Because it's about reinforcing their longstanding narratives, true or false, to maintain their control and authority. Politicians are not known for admitting they were wrong.

In the meantime, the rest of us should follow the science regarding natural immunity even if the government refuses.