Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s top health department official are directly contradicting federal health recommendations and warning residents against getting a new COVID-19 booster, saying there’s not enough evidence it provides benefits that outweigh risks.

DeSantis, who is running for president, and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo discussed the vaccine with doctors Wednesday on a Zoom call livestreamed on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. It repeated much of what they said a week ago during a live event in Jacksonville, in which they warned against the vaccine that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended this week.

Ladapo’s previous warnings against COVID-19 vaccines prompted a public letter from federal health agencies saying his claims were harmful to the public.

  • Temple Square@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    At this point, it’s just a temper tantrum.

    Democrats/scientists/experts/youth are the “annoying older brother” and anything they want is “stupid.”

    Lead poisoning (gasoline) really ruined a generation.

    • GreenMario@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      We can literally control them via reverse psychology. Like pulling strings on a puppet.

      All we gotta say is sleeping in the middle of the street is dangerous and have ONE pink haired lesbian liberal hold a sign saying that and then film ONE guy with a camo hat with a fish hook in the bill to say in the biggest southern drawl that he ain’t gonna let no woke tell him he can’t take a nap on I-10.

      • Illuminostro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Seriously, the easiest way to manipulate a narcissist is to tell them what they want to hear.

        “Man, that’s a great idea! Did you think of that yourself? Of course you did, I wish I was as smart as you!”

    • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      It’s kind of where that all ends up, isn’t it? They all start off with their own thing/brand/whatever, and as soon as they realize they either won’t beat Trump/are losing votes in their state/district they pivot to being the dumbest and most extreme fascist just to prove that they’re “cool” because ultimately, that’s where this game leads: the lowest common denominator.

      Meanwhile, the rest of us sit and suffer.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    …. Ya think he realizes, the ones that’ll listen to him…. Are also the ones that will vote for him?

    • kescusay@lemmy.world
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      The calculation is as simple as it is disgusting: If he can inspire enough turnout to more than make up for the deaths he causes, then he comes out ahead.

      Didn’t work out so well for Republicans in 2022, though.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Their math ain’t adding up.

        Probably shouldn’t have spent so much effort damning public education, huh?

    • xkforce@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      He has calculated that the number of votes he would lose from recommending the vaccine is greater than the number hed lose from them dying to covid. Unfortunately for him, hes bad at math.

    • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Yeah he knows did people and this is what they want to hear. Im sure Desantis himself will get vaccinated.

  • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Florida Surgeon General who has no formal education in infectious diseases, gives advice about infectious diseases. Seriously, the guy’s medical background is “PhD in Health Policy, clinical training in internal medicine, and clinical studies for ‘weight loss, smoking cessation, and cardiovascular disease prevention among people with HIV’.”

    I may as well just go to my optometrist and ask what they think about the vaccine while I’m at it. Good professionals command what they have mastery over and become supportive on that which they are not. Shitty professionals run around acting like they know everything. This guy is very much the latter.

    • Joker@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      You would probably get more sound medical advice from your optometrist. Shit, I know chiropractors with more credibility. I wouldn’t trust this dude to check my blood pressure. He is a quack. The fact that he graduated from Harvard only means they made a mistake.

      • Illuminostro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Well, the only reason he got in is because he’s one of “those people.” My drunk Uncle Randy who collects Confederate flags told me so…

    • evidences@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I def misread the previous comment my response here is pointless

      The dudes a piece of shit but he definitely has an M.D. from Harvard.

      From his wikipedia

      Ladapo received a M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2008. Ladapo completed clinical training in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

      • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        but he definitely has an M.D. from Harvard

        Yeah, of Internal Medicine. Infectious diseases is a specialty of that domain for the reason that most internists hand off to specialist for specific diseases and mostly deal with generalized management. I don’t go to a gastroenterologist for hip replacement. Someone who is into family medicine ain’t my first choice for diagnosis and treatment options for something like lymphoma, I’ll likely go to a specialist who knows what the hell they’re talking about for specifically dealing with the disease and they’ll hand off notes to my PCP for generalized management. Ladapo is no different here, Internal Medicine doctors are ones that usually look at a patient and try to figure out who to send them to for specialized care and then handle general management based on the notes from specialist.

        Ladapo is indeed a doctor. He’s got a domain of mastery. But that domain isn’t on infectious diseases, but instead of deferring to those who have devoted their lives to this specific domain of study, he’s just spouting off at the mouth about something in his professional career he’d refer patients off to a specialist for.

        So, I find it humorous to say the least that when he was an internists that whole being held accountable for running his mouth off about things was next to nothing and routinely handed off for specialty care. But now that he’s in a political position where he can be held less accountable for BS he spouts off, he’s got no problem indicating that he’s got the answers to it all.

        It’s just funny how once that accountability goes out the window, he’s less affable to defer to specialist’s wisdom.

        The quip about me heading to my optometrist is going a bit extreme indeed, but still, guy has a background in knowing when to hand off to others when he’s being held accountable, and now has a background of running his damn mouth when he’s no longer being held accountable for the crap he’s saying. But that said, guy better hope to hold tight to that political career now. Making a lot noise needlessly isn’t a look most hospitals like for their residents.

    • porkins@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      “There’s no reason to think they’ll be unsafe,” Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, told NBC News. “But whether they’ll provide significantly more protection than the original vaccines? Of that I’m skeptical.”

      “… could prevent 100,000 more hospitalizations each year than if only the elderly were vaccinated…”

      Assuming the 100k was speaking to the US population of which there are 339M, we would be saving .0030% of the population. The CDC published adverse reaction stats across several decks such as this. To ballpark using their numbers, you can put it somewhere at around 400-500 hospitalizations for extremely adverse events with a portion of that being deaths or seriously messing the person up permanently, such as a portion of the stroke victims or some of the kids with myocarditis. It sounds like the thing people are in agreement on is for the most at risk to get it. Basically, experts in the field are weighing-in and there is a media bias to write-off even the good ones that don’t agree entirely with the government/corporate narrative. In many respects, this is a profit push. We could save .003% of the population from hospital visits in other contexts without putting 500 people at great risk. For $130 an American, you could do a lot. You could give everyone a heart monitor. You could provide mats for slippery areas around the house or provide driveway salt for the winter, etc. The reason that this is getting attention still is because of the money.

    • アルケミー船長@lemmy.one
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      I hate to say this, but this is a blessing in full view. If people want the “freedom” to not take a vaccine because “risks, 5G mind control, whatever” then let’s let them. Life is full of risks and they need a wakeup call.

      • Senshi@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I would agree if this decision would only affect themselves. But vaccination against infectious diseases works best if the majority is vaccinated. Then you can actually stop it from spreading. Which is important for all those that cannot be vaccinated for legitimate health reasons. Some vaccines are dangerous for specific subsets of the population. And usually it’s the same subset that would be most affected by an actual infection of the diseases we vaccinate against. Small children, pregnant people, any immunocompromised people… Vaccinating is an act of solidarity and community.

        • Kage520@lemmy.world
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          It’s not just important for those that cannot be vaccinated for health reasons. It’s important for the x% that the vaccine was not effective for.

          If it’s 90% effective, then you still have a 10% chance of getting it if exposed (Though probably less severe, you can still spread it). But if it’s 90% effective, you have a much lower chance of being exposed but ONLY IF MOST PEOPLE GET THE VACCINE!

          Sorry, not yelling at you. Just making the point that even if you get the vaccine, you are better off if everyone else does too.

          • Senshi@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That’s what I wanted to hint at in my third sentence, but yes, it wasn’t my main point. So thanks for picking up on this even more central aspect.

            Your explanation is rightfully more verbose. Herd immunity should not be a difficult concept, but it definitely can’t be explained often enough.

      • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The problem is, refusing to take the vaccine is sort of like a drunk moron firing a pistol into the air. It might hurt them, or their family, but more likely they will kill someone they never knew.

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This kind of mistake will cost a lot of peoples lives. On the other hand, those people are most likely older and voting REP, so he is killing off his own base.

      • ForestOrca@kbin.social
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        This is the part I really don’t get. How does ‘killing your own base’, and adding to the healthcare burden with more long covid cases, work in the long or short term? Or at all. I guess they are just thinking till '24, but we’ve got a long winter season of SARS-CoV-2, RSV, & Influenza before we get to November '24. And your right, people will die, and be disabled in greater numbers if they follow what DeSantis says.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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          Not to mention, this is after the party had a midterm that was historically bad and lost races by small margins. Killing their base with COVID may have very well cost them important elections, and now this idiot is doubling down on that “strategy”.

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You know, at this point, if you’re listening to DeSantis, go ahead, don’t get the booster. We need less people to vote for DeSantis or people like him in the future. Anyone opposed to him isn’t going to follow his advice, so this should hopefully sort itself out as time goes on.

  • LongbottomLeaf@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    At the height of the pandemic, Ladapo refused to wear a mask during a meeting with a Democratic senator who was undergoing cancer treatment.

    Ah, so a bona fide P.O.S.

  • YeetPics
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    1 year ago

    This guy eats pudding with his fingers… maybe don’t follow his advice on immunizations.

    • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
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      I had a boss one time take me out to lunch. He was a senior partner I was a junior associate. He never took anyone out to lunch. I was very excited. Proceeds to drive me to a grocery store with a salad bar, said we have to eat it in the car on the way back to the office. Dude proceeded to eat his salad with his fingers while driving in Boston.

  • Obinice@lemmy.world
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    Interesting, this sort of intentional dangerous disinformation would be illegal here coming from a trusted public figure, what sort of charges will this De Santis guy be brought up on?

    If there’s evidence he did it, it should be a pretty open and shut case.

    • Signtist@lemm.ee
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      Open and shut against a regular person, sure, but if we’ve learned anything in the last 8 years, it’s that government officials who spread misinformation won’t see repercussions for a long time, if ever.

  • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Memba when Florida went from front of the pack in new COVID cases and new COVID deaths to having no open cases, no new cases and no dsiky deaths literally overnight?