DeSantis sacrifices Floridians for his personal ambition https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinio...0220307-6jacfk6ihrav3cojuj56orf444-story.html As author Bob Woodward tells the story, the new virus in China didn’t yet have a name in early 2020, but Donald Trump’s national security advisor, Robert O’Brien, warned him of “the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.” The warning proved accurate. Nearly 1 million U.S. deaths later, COVID-19 may be waning, but the question of the next viral pandemic is not if but when. In barely a century, there have been the misnamed Spanish flu, HIV/AIDS and now COVID-19. When the next pandemic strikes, America will need a president who acts wisely, based on science and not politics. That president should prefer to err on the side of safety rather than popularity. Gov. Ron DeSantis would not be that president. Although he doesn’t admit it, DeSantis’ craving for the White House is the most transparent ambition since Julius Caesar theatrically declined a crown, and it’s already dreadfully clear what kind of public health president he would be. Consider what happened Monday. DeSantis’ surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, announced that the Department of Health will not recommend healthy children get COVID-19 vaccinations and will in fact recommend against it. That was another irresponsible act in DeSantis’ full-bore campaign to undercut common-sense health measures as invasions of “freedom.” As governor, DeSantis has dealt with the coronavirus with less responsibility than Trump did at the White House. But Florida’s fringe surgeon general would likely become the nation’s fringe surgeon general if President DeSantis could promote him. Doubling down on a reckless, radical agenda, Ladapo now says that healthy Florida children age 5 to 11 should not continue to get a CDC-approved vaccines, making Florida the first state to actively discourage kids from being protected. Children are far less likely than adults to die from COVID-19, but they do die from it — 42 in Florida so far, according to the Department of Health. Even if mildly ill or asymptomatic, they could infect vulnerable grandparents. But thanks to DeSantis and the unquestioning Florida Legislature, Florida schools cannot require masks, even in high-risk counties. Red meat for the masses The zealotry of DeSantis and Ladapo for the “freedom” to go maskless — and now unvaccinated — in the face of a still-lethal virus is red meat for the governor’s right-wing followers, and it’s rocket fuel for his lucrative national fundraising. He exposed the sheer hypocrisy during anotorious photo opwhere he bullied a group of Tampa high school students into removing masks, scoffing at “COVID theater.” Is it a matter of personal choice and parental control, as he keeps saying, or not? Even as the Centers for Disease Control was relaxing its face-mask protocols to account for improving local conditions, DeSantis and Ladapo urged Floridians to “buck the CDC.” They also appeared to encourage physicians to prescribe remedies not approved by the FDA for antivirus therapy and to file complaints against hospitals that forbid questionable therapies. Just the other day, Ladapo denounced as “a lie” that masks have saved any lives from COVID-19. That is as great a falsehood as Trump’s claim to have won the election. He labeled as “zombies” doctors who disagree with him. DeSantis previewed a dystopian future as he took his campaign for the White House to the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. Arriving with a rock star’s welcome, he continued demonizing Dr. Anthony Fauci, president Biden’s chief medical adviser, for his tireless efforts to protect Americans from COVID-19. He denounced Australia and Canada as threats to freedom for their efforts to control the pandemic. He was too busy demonizing medical science that day to say a word about Russia’s diabolical invasion of Ukraine. A divider, not a uniter DeSantis is running like Trump did in 2016, as a divider rather than a uniter, writing off moderate and liberal voters whom he has no more intention of representing in Washington than he has in Tallahassee. With COVID-19, DeSantis dragged Florida deeper into harm’s way. He signed legislation to prohibit private employers, schools and other public agencies from imposing vaccine or mask mandates. He abdicated his duty as a leader by refusing to say whether he’d had a booster shot. He encouraged lax practices by nursing homes and other health care providers by signing and extending a law generally barring COVID-related lawsuits. He continues to disparage best practices. In all those ways, DeSantis was more irresponsible than Trump. The former president failed in his duty by minimizing the virus in his public statements and by undercutting his government’s own safety pronouncements with White House and campaign events that did not enforce social distancing or face-masking. But his Operation Warp Speed did make available a vaccine in record time, and he did not actively oppose federal, state or local prevention efforts like DeSantis has. He’s a ruthless politician who will knowingly sacrifice anything, especially truth, to his incandescent personal ambition. Simply put, if you liked having Trump in the White House, you’ll love DeSantis.
Politifact rates DeSantis' claim that masks are "COVID theater" false https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2022/03/06/politifact-desantis-face-masks-covid-theater Gov. Ron DeSantis,captured on a now-viral video scolding mask-wearing high schoolers at a press event at USF last week, has again stoked old debates about civility, liberty and public health in a state where these things seem always in flux. What he said: "You don't have to wear those masks," DeSantis said mockingly. "I mean, please take them off. Honestly, this is not doing anything. We've got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous." Yes, but: The Poynter Institute's Politifact rated the claim that wearing masks is "COVID theater" and "not doing anything" as false. The fact-checkers asked: "Are there still legitimate reasons people might choose to wear face masks in public?" The answer: Of course. The latest mask recommendations from the CDC urge people in areas of high community transmission to wear face masks when in public. There's evidence to show the good ones work. And while it might not seem like it, Politifact points out that Hillsborough County has a high transmission rate and people should wear masks per CDC guidelines. Masks are no longer mandatory in schools, but many children still choose to wear them. Immunocompromised kids, who were disproportionately affected by Omicron, are still encouraged to wear masks in public. The other side: "After two years of mixed messages and social engineering from health authorities and media, the governor wants to make sure everyone is aware of the facts and data," DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw told Politifact. In defense of the governor telling the kids to remove their masks, she tweeted: "I'm sorry if it offends Covidians' religious beliefs, but we would respect your religion if you just stopped trying to force it on others." The bottom line: The state reported 1,207 lives lost to COVID last week, 319 more than the week before.
Politi"fact" is a joke. Tampa Bay Times Narratives. They frequently ignore information and rate things whatever they want. Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald close seconds.
So once again DeSantis gathers up a panel of Covid-denier advisors for some Covid theater -- three of whom authored the "Great Barrington Declaration". Of course the panel included Robert Malone who pushes endless Covid anti-vax misinformation. Plus other Covid misinformation pushers such as Tracy Beth Høeg who pushed her non-peer reviewed myocarditis study -- which has been fact-checked as incorrect and using flawed data. Yep, these are the clowns that DeSantis uses for Covid advice. Of course, DeSantis had his "America's Frontline Doctors" surgeon general, Ladapo, use this session to announce that Covid vaccines should not be given to children -- which clearly goes against CDC and worldwide medical guidance. Florida surgeon general contradicts CDC, says healthy kids shouldn’t get COVID vaccine https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article259147238.html The Florida Department of Health is poised to officially recommend against giving coronavirus vaccines to healthy children. Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made the pronouncement at a Monday roundtable discussion on coronavirus mitigation policies moderated by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ladapo, who leads Florida’s Department of Health, said his department’s recommendation would be the first of its kind in the country. It wasn’t clear what age groups would fall under the recommendation, and neither the governor’s office nor the Department of Health released a copy of the new guidelines or responded to an email as of 5:30 p.m. Monday requesting more information. The announcement came after a 90-minute discussion among 10 doctors and researchers who rejected the benefits of various coronavirus mitigation measures such as vaccine mandates, mask requirements and business and school closures, saying instead those policies only caused harm. “I think what Florida’s guidance reflects is the latest research,” DeSantis told reporters at a news conference at Plant City later in the day. He said healthy kids are at low risk for the virus and that he’s seen studies showing there’s “very little benefit” for them. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5 and older. That agency recommends vaccinating children. Vaccines for children younger than 5 have not yet been approved. Although older people are far more likely to die from the virus than children, the CDC website notes COVID-19 is one of the top 10 causes of death for children aged 5 to 11. More than 804,000 Florida children younger than 16 have contracted the coronavirus, according to Florida Department of Health data. Forty-two of those children died. About 373,000 Florida children ages 5 to 11 have gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. That’s about 22% of the state’s 5 to 11 population. ‘COVID THEATER’ The panel event was billed as “The Curtain Close on COVID Theater,” and was held in a professionally lit studio in West Palm Beach with 10 guest speakers, including doctors and researchers from around the country. Among them were three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a highly controversial document that recommended against lockdowns because of what they said were “devastating” public health consequences. On a floor-to-ceiling screen behind the panelists were square tiles with video feeds of attendees, many of whom were staffers at various government agencies in the DeSantis administration, including the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Juvenile Justice and others. Panelists touched on several themes commonly championed by DeSantis, including what speakers called the “censorship” of doctors who dissent from the mainstream coronavirus guidance. Some accused the CDC and other government agencies of becoming politicized or of working with media outlets to buy “surreptitious advertising” promoting vaccines. Robert Malone, a vaccine researcher who has become a vocal proponent of the anti-vaccine movement during the pandemic, said the “deep state” has kept doctors from using “repurposed drugs” like hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. Numerous studies have found that drug has no clinical benefit in fighting the virus. Multiple panelists said that a large portion of school children have already been infected with COVID-19 and said that natural immunity is one strong reason for kids not to need vaccines. One panelist, a California doctor named Tracy Beth Høeg, talked about a study that she authored on the risks of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, after some people, especially boys, received coronavirus vaccines. “Even for boys who are previously healthy who haven’t been previously infected, we didn’t find that there was a benefit [to getting vaccinated], there was actually overall risk of giving them the second dose,” she said. Høeg’s study has not been peer-reviewed, and PolitiFact reported that flawed data and potential conflicts of interest may have impacted the researchers’ findings. Notably, hospitalization rates were calculated from January to July 2021, prior to the delta and omicron waves in much of the country. The delta and omicron variants pose more risk to children than previous variants. Another speaker, Joseph Fraiman, an emergency room doctor in Louisiana, said the “severe” side effects of the vaccines compared to the mild symptoms caused by the coronavirus in children mean there’s no “clear benefit.” “If you have a healthy child, the chances of that child dying are incredibly low, essentially close to zero if not actually zero,” he said. Fraiman then bashed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for not doing enough research on the coronavirus vaccine, saying it’s left a vacuum of information. “We have no idea if vaccines reduce transmission in kids or in adults,” he said. WHITE HOUSE HAS A RESPONSE The White House responded to Ladapo’s announcement during a media briefing later Monday afternoon. “It’s deeply disturbing that there are politicians peddling conspiracy theories out there and casting doubt on vaccinations when it is our best tool against the virus and the best tool to prevent even teenagers from being hospitalized,” press secretary Jen Psaki said. Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at the University of Florida, said in an interview that she did not support the state’s recommendation. She noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends COVID-19 vaccines for eligible children and adolescents 5 years of age or older. “Children are at lower risk than adults but they’re certainly not at no risk,” Rasmussen said. “We have a safe and effective vaccine with a very low risk of adverse outcomes.” Rasmussen noted that children have not been immune to hospitalization from COVID-19, and many have experienced so-called “long COVID.” The CDC has found that unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds are more than twice as likely to have been hospitalized from COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated. And a 2020 survey from the United Kingdom Office of National Statistics estimated more than 1 in 10 children experience COVID symptoms five weeks after infection. Rasmussen disputed the panelists’ contentions related to the safety of the vaccines. For example, she pointed to a December study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed that the risk of myocarditis in children is relatively low — 70 cases per million vaccine doses in boys aged 12 to 15. Those cases of myocarditis were largely milder than instances of that heart condition brought on by viruses like COVID-19, the study noted. She noted that much about the virus remains uncertain. For example, it’s unclear how long the vaccines offer peak protection. Kids may need boosters at some point, Rasmussen said. But Rasmussen said the vaccines are safe and effective. If parents have questions, they should consult their family doctor, she said. LADAPO CRITICIZES EARLY RESPONSE Ladapo and the other panelists on Monday derided the experts and government officials that have pushed for vaccine mandates and closures, even in the early days of the pandemic. “I still remember very clearly when people were telling us, including a lot of people with a lot of degrees [who] were telling us, ‘15 days to stop the spread,’ ” Ladapo said, referencing the Trump administration’s campaign in March 2020 encouraging people who were medically vulnerable or who felt sick to stay home to combat the coronavirus. “These people had no idea what they were talking about.” He said now, people in power “want us to forget that their choices that they made for everyone were the wrong choices that basically led to no appreciable benefit.” Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article259147238.html#storylink=cpy
first, Politifact is known to slant the story. Second, nothing states it "has been fact checked as incorrect and using flawed data". Your link says: Several doctors and researchers have pointed out flaws in the report’s methodology. But it also says In a separate report, public health officials, using VAERS data that had been vetted and confirmed, have determined that there may be a link between myocarditis and vaccination, particularly among boys.