Boston Mayor, Michelle Wu, Is Ignoring CDC Science By Moving To Fire Nearly 300 Of The City’s Heroic First Responders With COVID-19 Immunity From A Prior Infection.

The mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, will be firing nearly 300 Boston Police, Fire Fighters, EMS, and city workers with acquired natural immunity to COVID-19 on January 24, 2022. In doing so, the Harvard educated mayor is undermining her own authority by committing an unscientific constitutional violation. But even more shockingly, the marvelously educated mayor is ignoring the very clear scientific data coming from the CDC.

Boston Police Sergeant Shana Cottone is the president and founder of Boston First Responders United (BFRU). At personal cost, after having been suspended from her job as a high ranking Police officer, she is leading the charge against Mayor Michelle Wu’s scientifically incorrect and illegal discriminatory threats against over 300 Boston city workers with established acquired immunity to COVID-19 from their prior infections.

A group of over 300 Boston city Police, Fire Fighters, EMS and other workers are scheduled to be fired or suspended by Boston mayor, Michelle Wu, on January 24, 2022 — for refusing to follow the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

These heroic officers and city workers are led by a courageous Boston Police officer, Sergeant Shana Cottone, and have formed a group named Boston First Responders United (BFRU) to fight the mayor’s irrational vaccine mandate.

For starters, anyone who’s taken the time to understand my position, knows that I am not against COVID-19 vaccines or vaccine mandates — especially in congregate setting and in professions of public engagement like healthcare, Police, EMS, etc. Certainly, there’s an important role for first responders and healthcare workers during this pandemic to protect themselves and the people they serve as well as is possible. And vaccine immunity is a part of that.

Sgt. Shana Cottone and Dr. Noorchashm with FOX’s Shannon Bream discussing Mayor Wu’s move to fire nearly 300 Boston first responders from their jobs for refusing to undergo mandated vaccination because they have acquired natural immunity from their prior infections.

However, when Sgt. Cottone and her colleagues approached me several weeks ago for support, I immediately understood that their fight against mayor Wu’s vaccine mandate is entirely reasonable, science-based and ethically correct. Because almost every one of the BFRU members has had a prior natural infection and is already immune to COVID-19.

In fact, like the vast majority of first responder in the the US, the Boston first responders bore a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 illness by virtue of being on the front line of the pandemic.

But to be sure, we organized and many of these first responders used Labcorp at my direction to assess the status of their immunity to COVID-19.

Mayor Michelle Wu, the Harvard educated mayor of Boston, is now floridly ignoring the CDC’s own science, published on January 19, 2022, and is continuing to threaten to fire a group of over 300 courageous Boston first responders who are naturally immune to COVID-19 from their prior infections.

Here, I write to attest that the vast majority of these dissenting Boston first responders already carry powerful acquired natural immunity against COVID-19 based on the COVID-19 antibody levels in their blood.

My colleagues and I previously published an extensive meta-analysis demonstrating that individuals with natural immunity from a prior infection are equally if not better protected from subsequent infection, compared to “fully vaccinated” persons.

Equivalency of Protection From Natural Immunity in COVID-19 Recovered Versus Fully Vaccinated…

Most importantly, on January 19, 2022, the CDC itself published what promises to be an historic MMWR, containing an extensive analysis of real world data demonstrating that previously COVID-19 infected persons are equally, if not better, protected from infection when compared to vaccinated persons.

COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations by COVID-19 ...

The critical importance of these data and analyses is that they highlight why it is not scientifically, ethically or legally justifiable to mandate vaccination of already well immune persons with prior COVID-19 infection.

The picture that’s worth a million words — CDC’s data analysis demonstrating the prior natural infection protects against infection, even by VOCs, comparably if not better than vaccination.

Boston’s mayor is a very well-educated person. She belongs to a tradition of Harvard academics that include US senator Elizabeth Warren. For many years this group of elite educated folks, to whose clan I used to belong, have been proponents of “following the science”. Some have been the self-proclaimed champions of “ethical and science based conduct”. So, it’s radically ironic to see them plunge into the unscientific and unethical abyss of authoritarianism in government now.

Let me be clear, Mayor Wu: the 300 heroic Boston city first responders you are poised to fire on January 24, 2022 are almost ALL naturally immune from prior infections they acquired in the process of serving the people of your city. For you to fire these heroes from their jobs because they are not complying with your irrational vaccine mandate, is not only unscientific, it is an egregious violation of ethical conduct and a serious violation of their constitutional rights.

I commend Boston’s BFRU heroes and Sgt. Cottone for rising in defense of rationality, science, ethics and the United States constitution. How fitting that these heroes amongst us are the ones defending the American cornerstones and legacy of Boston: Civil Rights, The Constitution and Science itself.

What a shame that even a Harvard educated mayor is incapable of seeing the Truth.

I learned a long time ago, in another battle, that the word Veritas, Harvard’s motto, is a lot more easier said than lived up to. Amazing that it’s a few powerful Boston first responders in dissent defending Harvard’s Veritas, and not the elites and experts who wear that institution’s storied regalia, today.

Mayor Wu, FOLLOW THE SCIENCE — the CDC data from 1/19/2022 should be your HARD STOP on these first responder firings and suspensions you’re planning!

Hooman Noorchashm MD, PhD

Winter 2022.