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The Florida Supreme Court has handed GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory with a decision this week on empaneling a grand jury to conduct an investigation into the makers of COVID-19 vaccines. The governor’s office filed a request with the state’s highest court to launch a probe into mRNA vaccine manufacturers following reports of health problems by some people who took them.
Earlier this month, DeSantis announced that he was petitioning the state Supreme Court to impanel a grand jury to look into any potential wrongdoing related to the vaccines. “It is against the law to mislead and to misrepresent, particularly when you’re talking about the efficacy of a drug,” he told local media at the time.
The Daily Wire reported: “According to local media, groups involved in the design, development, clinical testing, marketing, and distribution of such vaccines are subject to a statewide impaneled grand jury investigation for one year. DeSantis’ petition said widespread belief was that the COVID-19 vaccine would prevent the disease from spreading, which led to mandates on citizens, healthcare workers, and military members.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on plan to investigate potential mRNA COVID-19 vaccine wrongdoing: "It is against the law to mislead and to misrepresent, particularly when you're talking about the efficacy of a drug." pic.twitter.com/39ITxvMStj
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) December 13, 2022
“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,” the petition said, according to local media reports.
DeSantis’ petition also argued that there was a wide belief that the vaccines prevented COVID from spreading, which then led to mandates on citizens, military members, and healthcare workers, Florida’s Voice reported.
Moderna and Pfizer, two vaccine makers, both have claimed that the jab prevented COVID from spreading with “94.1% efficacy” and “91.3% vaccine efficacy,” respectively.
A Pfizer spokesperson told The Daily Wire: “Regulatory agencies across the world have authorized the use of our COVID-19 vaccine. These authorizations are based on robust and independent evaluation of the scientific data on quality, safety and efficacy, including our landmark phase 3 clinical trial. Data from real world studies complement the clinical trial data and provide additional evidence that the vaccine provides effective protection against severe disease.”
The spokesperson noted further: “Over the course of this deadly pandemic, mRNA vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, tens of billions of dollars in health care costs, and enabled people worldwide to go about their lives more freely. As of November 27th, 2022, we have delivered 4.3 billion vaccines to 181 countries and territories in every region of the world.”
DeSantis made the announcement about investigating the vaccine makers at an event alongside Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and other health officials who seek “accountability” from the companies.
“That will come with legal processes that we’ll be able to get more information and to bring legal accountability for those who committed misconduct,” DeSantis said.
The Daily Wire noted further: “Concerns for such misconduct spurred from studies that showed a link in an increase of myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle, in teenagers and young adults after receiving the mRNA vaccine.”
Earlier this week, DeSantis has indicated he would support a long-debated measure that would regulate how teachers pay their union dues. Specifically, the GOP governor “has signaled that he will make a priority of passing a long-debated proposal that would prevent teachers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks,” according to a Tuesday report.
The Floridian Press noted that the governor voiced support for the proposal during a speech Monday in Orlando, calling it “paycheck protection legislation.”
The report noted that the Florida Education Association and other major teacher’s unions supported DeSantis’ Democratic opponent, Charlie Christ, ahead of last month’s election. Crist’s running mate, in fact, was Miami-Dade County teacher’s union leader Karla Hernandez.
The report added: “DeSantis also has battled unions in recent years about issues such as reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. During what was described as a Freedom Blueprint speech Monday, he tied the union-dues idea to raising pay for teachers during the 2023 legislative session.”
