GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is weaponizing Florida’s court system to attack the vaccines that would have saved the lives of the Floridians he sacrified to COVID. Mr. DeSantis wants a grand jury to investigate the rare cases of heart inflamation attributed to vaccinations, when such conditions are seven times more frequent among those suffering from COVID. Since anti-vaccine rhetoric is killing more Republicans than Democrats, you’d think self-serving MAGA hacks like Ron DeSantis would avoid bad-mouthing vaccines.
The Medical Director of Orange County, Florida, has been put on leave for encouraging his staff to get vaccinated. Dr. Raul Pino, an epidemiologist, emailed his staff on January 6th, noting that only 77 of 568 employees had been fully vaccinated and boosted, and another 219 had received two shots:
“I am sorry but in the absence of reasonable and real reasons it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300,000 and we are not even at 50% pathetic. I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it.”
“Florida Department of Health confirms Dr. Raul Pino put on leave for encouraging Orange County Department of Health employees to get vaccinated,” Danielle Prieur, WMFE
“Florida health official placed on leave after encouraging employees to get vaccinated,” Timothy Bella, Washington Post
Days after anti-vax doctors met in Florida, seven of them came down with COVID-19. The fringe medicos met on November 6th at Ocala’s World Equestrian Center, so naturally they pushed ivermectin horse de-wormer as a coronavirus cure. As the Daily Beast points out, the Equestrian Center requires all participating ponies to be vaccinated against Equine Herpes Virus and Equine Influenza. Florida law prevents vaccine mandates for two-legged participants.
“Florida Summit on Covid” participants listened to the 9 panel “experts” and lunched together, and $250 VIP admission tickets included a private reception and photo opportunity, a likely virus incubator.
More:
“Seven doctors contract Covid after attending Florida anti-vaccine summit,” Maya Yang, The Guardian
Florida’s pro-virus governor Ron DeSantis has invited vaccination-resisting cops fleeing vaccine mandates in other states to come and infect his state’s surviving citizens. He’s offered to pay unvacinated officers a $5,000 signing bonus. 58,933 Floridians have died of COVID while Ron DeSantis has been in office. So far.
This year, the number one cause of police deaths is COVID-19, not firearms.
“As some police fight vaccine rules, DeSantis says Florida will pay them $5,000 to relocate: ‘We’ll treat you better,’” Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post
“Ron DeSantis Goes All In on Vaccine Skepticism,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine
“Covid has killed more active-duty police officers than 9/11 did,” Phillip Bump, Washington Post
Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s pro-life beliefs don’t extend to his constiuients. He’s killed off 50,000 of them so far, forbidding the vaccine mandates and mask requirements that would keep them from dying of COVID-19.
Hospitals in the state are overwhelmed and 300+ people are dying each day, but the governor’s declaring victory, since even greater numbers were sick and dying a few weeks ago. 44% of Floridians still surviving are not fully vaccinated, so any lull in cases will be brief.
Dr. Ladapo, who has no public health administrative experience, will also lead the Florida Department of Health. He’s being paid $250,000 a year, 72 percent more than his predecessor.
More:
“Florida’s new surgeon general skeptical of vaccines, opposes masks,” Ruth mole, Ars Technica
“DeSantis places a ‘COVID crank’ in charge of its response,” Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times
“Florida’s new surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, has ties to fringe group pushing bogus COVID cures,” Brett Bachman and Trish Rooney, Salon
“How a doctor who questioned vaccine safety became DeSantis’ surgeon general pick,” Arek Sarkissian, Politico
Last August, 460,000 bikers from all over the country headed to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Many carried Covid-19 back home. Contact tracing was nearly impossible, but at least 649 Covid-19 cases were linked directly to the Sturgis rally, and they passed the virus around to friends and family. One estimate put cumulative infections from the event at 250,000 nationwide, generating public health costs of $12.2 billion.
“Within weeks of the gathering, the Dakotas, along with Wyoming, Minnesota and Montana, were leading the nation in new coronavirus infections per capita. The surge was especially pronounced in North and South Dakota, where cases and hospitalization rates continued their juggernaut rise into October. Experts say they will never be able to determine how many of those cases originated at the 10-day rally, given the failure of state and local health officials to identify and monitor attendees returning home, or to trace chains of transmission after people got sick.”
“More than 330 coronavirus cases and one death were directly linked to the rally as of mid-September, according to a Washington Post survey of health departments in 23 states that provided information. But experts say that tally represents just the tip of the iceberg, since contact tracing often doesn’t capture the source of an infection, and asymptomatic spread goes unnoticed.”
–“How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have spread coronavirus across the Upper Midwest,” Brittany Shammas and Lena H. Sun, Washington Post
More:
“Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was ‘superspreading event’ that cost public health $12.2 billion: analysis,” J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
“The inevitable fallout from last month’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, an annual event that packed nearly 500,000 people into a small town in South Dakota, is becoming clear, and the emerging picture is grim.
According to a new study, which tracked anonymized cellphone data from the rally, over 250,000 coronavirus cases have now been tied to the 10-day event, one of the largest to be held since the start of the pandemic. It drew motorcycle enthusiasts from around the country, many of whom were seen without face coverings inside crowded bars, restaurants, and other indoor establishments.
The explosion in cases, the study from the Germany-based IZA Institute of Labor Economics finds, is expected to reach $12 billion in public health costs.”
— “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Is Now Linked to More Than 250,000 Coronavirus Cases,” Inae Oh, Mother Jones
More:
“Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was ‘superspreading event’ that cost public health $12.2 billion: analysis,” J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
“Sturgis Motorcyle Rally linked to more than 265,000 cases of COVID-19 costing $12 billion: report,” Nancy Dillon, NY Daily News
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