Despite assurances from the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, corporate manufacturers, foreign regulators, and his own state university system, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis needs to secure the GOP base in order to overthrow Donald Trump as the titular head of the Party, so he’s demanding the Florida Supreme Court empanel a grand jury to investigate all the crackpot false ideas conservatives have about coronavirus vaccines.
According to Politico, DeSantis held a virtual roundtable with Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, a California doctor drafted from across the country because he was a national proponent of anti-vaccine, counter-public health pandemic measures favored by DeSantis and Republicans. During the roundtable, DeSantis remarked that it’s illegal for public officials to lie to the citizens of Florida–a moment lacking self-awareness given his endorsement of hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment–and he wanted to investigate lies he claims federal officials like Anthony Fauci told the public about the effectiveness of the vaccine. DeSantis did not mention if he would investigate Donald Trump’s various claims about injecting disinfectant or sucking horse dewormer as treatments for the virus. It will just be coincidental if the investigation finds his Republican rival culpable for misleading the public.
Republicans claim, without evidence, that Fauci and other officials overstated the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. They point to reports entered in the VAERS system, a database of reports of reactions to vaccines and other treatments; medical professionals are required to report adverse reactions to VAERS but reports to VAERS are not verified and anyone can submit a report, so some unrelated events may be improperly causally linked. Still, anti-government conspiracy theorists claim the database is complete, comprehensive and accurate.
Don’t be surprised if he expands the investigation into coronavirus into the legendary “gain of function research” at a Chinese lab that right-wing conspiracy theorists believe Fauci paid for to secure the . And just for the hell of it, he’ll throw in an investigation into dropping testosterone rates in men to secure a regular slot on Tucker Carlson’s program.