Once again, the political inclinations of Florida’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, are highlighted as he aligns his medical and academic credentials to support Ron DeSantis’ anti-science and anti-public health agenda.
This compromises the well-being of Floridians. Last April, editorials by H. Holden Thorp, the editor of Science, the most prestigious science journal in the United States, criticized Ladapo for his flawed argument against administering COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to men aged 18-39.
In a presentation to NSU health professions students just last January, the use of gas stoves in homes was advocated by Ladapo, who simultaneously acknowledged their role in contributing to indoor air pollution that worsens asthma in children. His proposed solution was to “just open the windows.”
The latest attack on COVID-19 vaccination with RNA vaccines, which have globally saved millions of people from death and debilitation, is yet another example of the danger posed by Ladapo to the health of Floridians. An improbable theoretical construct is bastardized by Ladapo to argue against the use of these vaccines in preventing severe COVID-19 infections.
His past support for alternative therapies such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, now shown to be ineffective against COVID-19 and posing health hazards, further underscores his determination to promote a flawed political agenda.
Additionally, he adheres to a pseudo-Christian mentality, referring to mRNA vaccines as “antichrist” and claiming they interfere with our connection to God, diverging from universally validated medical science and well-proven public health medicine.
Some homework should be done by Ladapo to understand that about 8% of the DNA in our genome has viral origins, including DNA from RNA viruses (also known as retroviruses like SARS-CoV-2) that has accumulated over many millennia of exposure to viral infections.
Recent findings in Science Magazine suggest that this viral DNA may contribute to our innate protective immunity against certain infectious diseases, forming part of evolving genetic resistance to retroviral diseases.
The argument made by Ladapo that the minuscule probability of viral DNA in the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 becoming incorporated into our DNA could cause harm is thousands of times less likely than the probability that severe COVID-19 infection will cause death and long-term debilitation.
A surgeon general is needed in Florida who will be guided by rational scientific evidence rather than bastardized, misinterpreted, or misleading conceptualizations that encourage vaccine hesitancy, endangering the citizenry and children who may now fall prey to diseases such as measles and polio, which were once all but eliminated by safe and effective vaccines.
A surgeon general is hardly needed in Florida who is a lapdog to the dystopian aspirations of presidential candidate Governor Ron DeSantis, who is not an expert on medical health issues. DeSantis has pledged to take Ladapo to Washington as the US Surgeon General if elected as president.
In conclusion, A surgeon general is needed in Florida who will be guided by rational scientific evidence rather than relying on bastardized, misinterpreted, or misleading conceptualizations that encourage vaccine hesitancy. This approach endangers the citizenry and children, making them vulnerable to diseases such as measles and polio, which were once almost eliminated by safe and effective vaccines.
