As Americans debate whether to follow the recommendations of federal health officials and receive an updated Covid vaccine, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis repeats the message that triggered his national political career: Forget what the federal government tells you about Covid-19.
Last week, when polls showed him far from Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, DeSantis convened a virtual roundtable with a panel of Covid vaccine skeptics. Their mission: to oppose the FDA’s conclusions that the new injections are safe and effective for others for 6 months. of age and older.
Instead, they pleaded with others under 65 not to get vaccinated, suggesting without evidence that the shots might simply be harmful.
“I will not stand idly by and allow the FDA and CDC to use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster vaccines that have not been shown to be effective,” DeSantis said, contradicting the FDA’s findings. “Once again, Florida is the first state to stand up and provide recommendations based on truth, not Washington’s executive orders. “
DeSantis supported through the carefully chosen father for his public fitness strategy: his state’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo.
“My view is that this is not a smart solution for young people and for others who are not at the greatest risk at this level of the pandemic,” Ladapo said.
Ladapo has been criticized by public fitness experts since DeSantis hired him for the position. He chided him through federal fitness officials for encouraging incorrect information about covid and vaccines in general. And a report from the University of Florida College of Medicine expressed “concern about integrity violations” in a state fitness department study that suggested receiving a covid mRNA vaccine increases the risk of death in young men.
Ladapo replaced the effects of the study, Politico reported. And studies have shown that the risk of central headaches in young men is up to 5. 6 times higher after a covid infection than after a covid vaccine.
As public health officials face an uphill war to convince Americans to get one of the latest vaccines (only 17 percent won the 2022 booster shot), DeSantis’ tactics could further limit adoption by stoking vaccine doubts.
DeSantis is “playing with fire, and it’s a matter of life and death,” said Donna Shalala, who served as U. S. secretary of fitness and human facilities during the Clinton administration and later represented Florida in Congress.
“But I think other people will see this for what it is: a desperate, very high-stakes attempt to get the citizens of Florida to reposition themselves,” he said.
DeSantis is more than 40 points, on average, behind Trump in polls among GOP number one voters, a gap that has widened despite the governor’s recent efforts to revive his campaign.
In Florida, more than 90,000 people have died from COVID-19.
And, while there have been some serious side effects related to Covid vaccines, their occurrence is rare and several studies have shown that vaccinated people are no higher risk of death for non-Covid related reasons than those who are not. In the United States, one hundred million doses of Covid vaccines have been administered, according to Our World in Data.
That data was not discussed in last week’s discussion, when the panel, which did not include vaccine or infectious disease experts, said without evidence that the shots could simply have “negative efficacy” or even cause a buildup of infection with the virus.
DeSantis and Ladapo said they were concerned about the lack of human trials before newer Covid vaccines were allowed, though they didn’t know why they might be less concerned about the dangers to other people over 65.
Annual flu vaccines are also not in human clinical trials. But Ladapo called it a “sleight of hand” to compare covid boosters to the flu vaccine, as it has existed for decades. “It’s an absolutely different phenomenon,” he said.
The Florida Department of Health did not respond to questions about whether it is the flu vaccine, given the lack of human testing.
Daniel Salmon, a vaccine expert at Johns Hopkins University who observed the roundtable, said he disputes the claim that there is no clinical data to support the use of new vaccines. Like the flu vaccine, primary Covid vaccines have undergone clinical trials and there would be no time to make one every time a new strain emerges, he said.
The discussion is not an in-depth debate about clinical uncertainty among experts, Salmon said. He pointed to the panelists’ lack of experience and education in vaccines and infectious diseases, saying they instead rely on their positions as Florida physicians, academics and surgeons general to give them credibility.
“They don’t know anything about Covid,” Salmon said. They use data to protect their position and don’t have the expertise to make decisions for a lot of people.
“I felt they were looking to sow doubt,” he said, “and that’s dangerous. “
A survey by the nonprofit fitness organization KFF shows that most Americans face incorrect information about fitness, and many about the veracity of claims about Covid vaccines.
DeSantis built his national reputation by opposing the medical status quo and ending the 2020 pandemic lockdown earlier in Florida than in many other states. He also gained traction, and raised money, by criticizing the federal government led by President Joe Biden and following the advice of the country’s most sensible former infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, who resigned from his post at the National Institutes of Health in December.
DeSantis’ handling of the Covid reaction helped propel him to a re-election victory last year and lead the 2024 Republican presidential pipeline this spring.
David Richards, president of the foreign relations and political science branch at Lynchburg University in Virginia, said he wasn’t surprised by DeSantis’ technique for updating vaccines, given his voting results, his reputation as an advocate for “medical freedom” and his general opinion on vaccine policies.
“He wants to remain a candidate and differentiate himself from the other candidates,” he said.
Last year, DeSantis opposed the provision of Covid vaccines to young children after Florida was criticized for not reserving doses in advance until the federal government approved vaccination for children under five.
This year, DeSantis suggested Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature pass a pandemic-related law that goes against some public fitness recommendations, adding measures to permanently ban school mask mandates and prohibit corporations from firing workers who don’t get vaccinated.
Matt Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University in Washington, D. C. , said DeSantis’ message about new Covid vaccines shows his preference for distancing himself from Trump, even though Trump’s approval in 2018 allowed him to win the race for Florida governor.
“It’s a way to exploit the issue, even if it was possibly at the cost of the lives of everyone who would pay attention to it in Florida and elsewhere,” he said.
This article was produced through KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on fitness issues and is one of KFF’s primary operating systems: the independent source for fitness policies, surveys and journalistic investigations. .
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As Americans contemplate whether to follow the recommendations of federal health officials and receive an updated Covid vaccine, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is sending the message that sparked his national political career: Forget what the federal government is telling you about Covid-19. .
Last week, when polls showed him far from Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, DeSantis convened a virtual roundtable with a panel of Covid vaccine skeptics. Their mission: to oppose the FDA’s conclusions that the new injections are safe and effective for others for 6 months. of age and older.
Instead, they pleaded with others under 65 not to get vaccinated, suggesting without evidence that the shots might simply be harmful.
“I will not stand idly by and allow the FDA and CDC to use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster vaccines that have not been shown to be effective,” DeSantis said, contradicting the FDA’s findings. “Once again, Florida is the first state to stand up and provide recommendations based on truth, not Washington’s executive orders. “
DeSantis supported through the carefully chosen father for his public fitness strategy: his state’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo.
“My view is that this is not a smart solution for young people and for others who are not at the greatest risk at this level of the pandemic,” Ladapo said.
Ladapo has been criticized by public fitness experts since DeSantis hired him for the position. He chided him through federal fitness officials for encouraging incorrect information about covid and vaccines in general. And a report from the University of Florida College of Medicine expressed “concern about integrity violations” in a state fitness department study that suggested receiving a covid mRNA vaccine increases the risk of death in young men.
Ladapo replaced the effects of the study, Politico reported. And studies have shown that the risk of central headaches in young men is up to 5. 6 times higher after a covid infection than after a covid vaccine.
As public health officials face an uphill war to convince Americans to get one of the latest vaccines (only 17 percent won the 2022 booster shot), DeSantis’ tactics could further limit adoption by stoking vaccine doubts.
DeSantis is “playing with fire, and it’s a matter of life and death,” said Donna Shalala, who served as U. S. secretary of fitness and human facilities during the Clinton administration and later represented Florida in Congress.
“But I think other people will see this for what it is: a desperate, very high-stakes attempt to get the citizens of Florida to reposition themselves,” he said.
DeSantis is more than 40 points, on average, behind Trump in polls among GOP number one voters, a gap that has widened despite the governor’s recent efforts to revive his campaign.
In Florida, more than 90,000 people have died from COVID-19.
And, while there have been some serious side effects related to Covid vaccines, their occurrence is rare and several studies have shown that vaccinated people are no higher risk of death for non-Covid related reasons than those who are not. In the United States, one hundred million doses of Covid vaccines have been administered, according to Our World in Data.
That data was not discussed in last week’s discussion, when the panel, which did not include vaccine or infectious disease experts, said without evidence that the shots could simply have “negative efficacy” or even cause a buildup of infection with the virus.
DeSantis and Ladapo said they were concerned about the lack of human trials before newer Covid vaccines were allowed, though they didn’t know why they might be less concerned about the dangers to other people over 65.
Annual flu vaccines are also not in human clinical trials. But Ladapo called it a “sleight of hand” to compare covid boosters to the flu vaccine, as it has existed for decades. “It’s an absolutely different phenomenon,” he said.
The Florida Department of Health did not respond to questions about whether it is the flu vaccine, given the lack of human testing.
Daniel Salmon, a vaccine expert at Johns Hopkins University who observed the roundtable, said he disputes the claim that there is no clinical data to support the use of new vaccines. Like the flu vaccine, primary Covid vaccines have undergone clinical trials and there would be no time to make one every time a new strain emerges, he said.
The discussion is not an in-depth debate about clinical uncertainty among experts, Salmon said. He pointed to the panelists’ lack of experience and education in vaccines and infectious diseases, saying they instead rely on their positions as Florida physicians, academics and surgeons general to give them credibility.
“They don’t know anything about Covid,” Salmon said. They use data to protect their position and don’t have the expertise to make decisions for a lot of people.
“I felt they were looking to sow doubt,” he said, “and that’s dangerous. “
A survey by the nonprofit fitness organization KFF shows that most Americans face incorrect information about fitness, and many about the veracity of claims about Covid vaccines.
DeSantis built his national reputation by opposing the medical status quo and ending the 2020 pandemic lockdown earlier in Florida than in many other states. He also gained traction, and raised money, by criticizing the federal government led by President Joe Biden and following the advice of the country’s most sensible former infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, who resigned from his post at the National Institutes of Health in December.
DeSantis’ handling of the Covid reaction helped propel him to a re-election victory last year and lead the 2024 Republican presidential pipeline this spring.
David Richards, president of the foreign relations and political science branch at Lynchburg University in Virginia, said he wasn’t surprised by DeSantis’ technique for updating vaccines, given his voting results, his reputation as an advocate for “medical freedom” and his general opinion on vaccine policies.
“He wants to remain a candidate and differentiate himself from the other candidates,” he said.
Last year, DeSantis opposed the provision of Covid vaccines to young children after Florida was criticized for not reserving doses in advance until the federal government approved vaccination for children under five.
This year, DeSantis suggested Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature pass a pandemic-related law that goes against some public fitness recommendations, adding measures to permanently ban school mask mandates and prohibit corporations from firing workers who don’t get vaccinated.
Matt Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University in Washington, D. C. , said DeSantis’ message about new Covid vaccines shows his preference for distancing himself from Trump, even though Trump’s approval in 2018 allowed him to win the race for Florida governor.
“It’s a way to exploit the issue, even if it was possibly at the expense of the lives of everyone who would pay attention to it in Florida and elsewhere,” he said.
This article was produced through KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on fitness issues and is one of KFF’s primary operating systems: the independent source for fitness policies, surveys and journalistic investigations. .
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on fitness issues and is one of the primary operating systems for KFF, an independent fitness policy research, survey and journalism agency. Learn more about KFF.
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