Seems like you are conflating two issues
1. reliability of natural immunity
2. safety of natural immunity vs vaccination immunity.
Outside of select populations vaccine is the clear safer choice. Sure the immunity is not as durable (most docs have never contended this point), this is similar to any vaccination series which requires multiple exposures in order to create lifelong immunity whereas often times one infection will do. The messaging has sucked, and I don't blame anyone for being frustrated as it the vaccine may have been pitched as a cure-all (although I know that many doctors stuck to the simple fact that vaccination reduces risk, causes more good than harm in most if not all patient populations, and the durability and long term side effects require further followup). To some extent this dissonance is a sad consequences of us all hoping for a refua sheleima.
I also agree that it is a shame that we have not developed clear guidelines for natural immunity, however, rest assured this frontier is being explored. it took 10s of years to optimize MMR vaccination schedules and identify what antibody titer levels conferred what degree of immunity. Notably, this will also depend on current disease prevalence which with Covid is a moving target. Expecting global scientists to do come to conclusive answers in 20% of the previous record time is quite bold. Especially, when most espousing a natural immunity supremacy doctrine cannot describe how to even design such studies, let alone explain the complicated mechanisms of humoral immunity.
Some interesting points were made re CDC guidance. They have lost face amongst the physician community. Some docs do follow "the party line", some treat their own fear by falling back on the comfort of authority, but many think critically. I for one was pro face coverings since day one as respiratory infections spread by droplet vs aerosol could theoretically be minimized with minimal risk via preventing these exposures. Early on surgical masks and respirators needed to be conserved, but once this was relaxed and mask efficiency standards were identified we still haven't managed to adopt the best scientific guidelines as a community.
