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  • 2021-08-09 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Rand Paul Get COVID-19 Vaccination in Viral Photo? (en)
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  • In August 2021, as a new wave of COVID-19 cases rose in Kentucky, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul urged Americans to resist mask mandates and other guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) related to stopping the now nearly two-year pandemic in a video posted to his Twitter account. Paul captioned his video: As this video went viral, many Twitter users responded by posting a photograph of Paul that supposedly showed him receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. This photograph was frequently shared with captions claiming that Paul was a hypocrite, as he was urging others to resist the CDC while the picture supposedly showed him receiving a vaccine urged by the CDC. This is a genuine photograph of Paul receiving a vaccine. However, it is not recent and does not show him getting a COVID-19 vaccination. The picture was taken in 2015, and shows Paul receiving a booster vaccination for Hepatitis A from a physician at the U.S. Capitol. You can read more about the benefits of a Hepatitis A vaccine on this page from the CDC. The New York Times reports that Paul received this vaccine shortly after he set off an uproar when he seemingly made anti-vaccination comments amidst a measles outbreak. The following day, the Kentucky senator invited a New York Times reporter to go along with him as he received a vaccination. From the NY Times: As for the COVID-19 vaccinations, it doesn't appear that Paul ever received his vaccine. The senator tested positive for COVID-19 back in March 2020. Paul survived the ordeal and appears to have been largely asymptomatic. Afterward, Paul claimed that since he had COVID-19, there was no need for him to get the vaccine. This claim — that natural immunity provides better protection than vaccines — is disputed by the science. On Aug. 6, 2021, the American Hospitals Association publicized two recent studies from the CDC that showed those with natural immunity were more than twice as likely to be reinfected than those who had received vaccines. The AHA writes: (en)
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