Governor Ron DeSantis is looking to the state supreme court to take action against pharmaceutical companies. Specifically, those that make the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna.
DeSantis said he is worried the COVID-19 vaccines caused life-altering side effects, and he wants the state to dig into the data. While all medications and vaccines can cause side effects, DeSantis remains undeterred.
In a roundtable discussion in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, Governor DeSantis was joined by a group of experts to discuss the adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. Only some media were invited to the event.
What may have stood out the most were the two stories from Steven Ordonia and Michelle Utter. They received the vaccines and said given the chance to get the shot again, they wouldn't.
"From that day on, my life has been turned upside down. I immediately got ill. I was experiencing stroke-like symptoms," Ordonia said.
Utter echoed Ordonia and said her once active life is no longer after receiving the vaccine.
"I woke up the next morning. I was in terrible pain. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me," Utter said.
It's stories like Ordonia and Utters that have Desantis seeking legal action from the state supreme court. He is asking the high court to impanel a grand jury to investigate any wrongdoing involving COVID-19 vaccinations, specifically the mRNA vaccine makers.
In addition, Desantis has created a new committee to fuel information.
"In Florida, we are creating what we are calling the Public Health Integrity Committee. It is a committee of expert researchers that will be able to access recommendations and guidance related to public health and healthcare but particularly to offer critical assessments to things that bureaucracy's like the FDA, CDC, and NIH are doing," Desantis said.
Another hot topic at Tuesday's roundtable discussion was the possible correlation between COVID vaccinations and myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart. Florida's Surgeon General Dr. Joespeh Ladapo has created a study to look into the connection and possible related deaths.
"We know that there has been a lot of faith destroyed in public health, and I think that it’s important that we have folks that actually can rely on when they’re looking for answers and they’re looking for answers on some of these really, really important issues," Dr. Ladapo said.
USF professor Dr. Michael Teng has been in the thick of COVID research and its numbers since the beginning. He doesn't deny there are side effects with the vaccine but said they are rare.
."There are known reactions to the vaccines. We know that, for example, there is elevated risk of myocarditis with the mRNA vaccines in younger males, which also happen to be the population that's at risk for myocarditis in the first place," Dr. Teng said.
Dr. Teng reiterated that there will always be people who have reactions to vaccines and said while vaccines are not perfect, they are better than contracting the disease.
"There have been plenty of studies out there that have shown that the mRNA vaccines have done a remarkable job in preventing covid related deaths. That having the vaccines is one of the things that have brought us out of some of the most severe parts of the pandemic," Dr. Teng said.
