'Waste of taxpayer money': Experts 'baffled' by DeSantis' COVID-19 vaccine investigation

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is receiving backlash from health experts after he petitioned an investigation into the validity of COVID-19 vaccines earlier this month, The Hill reports.

The governor was blasted by the Washington Post Editorial board after he demanded that “a grand jury investigate 'criminal or wrongful activity in Florida' involving the 'development, promotion and distribution' of coronavirus vaccines.'”

In his petition, which was accepted by the Florida Supreme Court last week, DeSantis said, “It is impossible to imagine that so many influential individuals came to this view on their own. Rather, it is likely that individuals and companies with an incentive to do so created these perceptions for financial gain,” and according to The Hill, he describes any guidance from the federal officials as a “huge political farce.”

Doctors and health experts are condemning the potential 2024 presidential candidate’s move, insisting it only heightens already existing fears that some citizens have towards vaccines.

President and CEO of the public health-focused de Beaumont Foundation, Brian Castrucci said, “These vaccines have been tested and scrutinized more than any other vaccine, and they continue to save lives. Vaccine safety is not a partisan issue and attempting to make it one puts lives at risk.”

Relatedly, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at Johns Hopkins University Joshua Sharfstein emphasized, “This is turning a matter of health and science into a political wedge issue, with the likely consequence that many people will be misled into placing themselves and their families at risk of serious illness and death.”

“His understanding of the facts or at least his articulation of the facts are just wrong,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, he said, “It actually turned out to be a whole lot better than most people thought it would be.”

William Schaffner, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University is particularly “baffled” that DeSantis doesn’t think health professionals are capable of handling vaccine development and distribution.

The professor reiterated that there are already two independent panels of voluntary, external experts who advise federal agencies on vaccine policy – the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee at the FDA and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“I’ve worked for governors and mayors and there’s clearly a role for elected officials to provide the appropriate moral leadership in our communities and governance leadership,” said Benjamin. “But I think that they get in trouble when they try to practice medicine.”

Benjamin asserts that the investigation is “a waste of taxpayer money and time and effort.”