Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo has fired back at critics of his recent recommendation on COVID-19 vaccines for young men, saying his advocacy aligns with science that pops up in research elsewhere.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal last week Ladapo repeated his department’s findings from earlier this month following an analysis of death certificates: that men age 18-39 should not get the vaccine because of an elevated risk of heart disease.
The Florida Department of Health found that cardiac-related death among men in that age group soars by 84 percent within 28 days of an mRNA vaccination, such as used by Pfizer and Moderna.
Leftist scientists and the liberal media attacked Ladapo for the recommendation. They claimed it was untrustworthy because the sample size was too small, death certificates were used and not medical charts, the researchers were not named and it was not peer-reviewed.
Yet they ignored the fact that the Health Department described its research as preliminary and that more analysis was needed.
Instead of conducting their own research, they ripped into Ladapo with ad hominem attacks, led by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who labeled Dr. Ladapo a “quack.”
But in the Journal, Ladapo defended the study partly by noting how often “the science” of COVID-19 has been wrong.
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“The left has smeared these results as ‘anti-science,’” Ladapo wrote. “But time and again, the unorthodox science related to Covid-19 becomes the mainstream.”
“Scientists have been attacked for questioning the efficacy of lockdowns, for urging schools to reopen, for challenging the effectiveness of mask mandates, and for opposing vaccine mandates and passports. The scientists asking these questions had the data on their side, but critics bowed to fear and political ideology.”
“It’s happening again. The increased risk of cardiovascular events following the Covid-19 vaccine isn’t news; it has been known for over a year. Research has identified cardiovascular risks in the general population, and especially among young males following Covid-19 mRNA vaccination,” Ladapo argued.
He then offered examples:
- A Scandinavian study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the risk of coronary artery disease went up after Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, as did the risk of cerebrovascular disease after both Pfizer and Moderna jabs.
- The FDA’s own Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research suggests that the mRNA vaccination could be linked to an increased risk of acute myocardial infarction among Medicare enrollees.
- Another JAMA study that revealed an mRNA vaccination boosted the incidences of diagnosed myocarditis in males 16 to 24 by as much as a factor of 18 after the second dose.
- An Israeli study found that upon rollout the vaccine was associated with increased acute cardiac events among young people.
Ladapo maintained that within its own parameters, the Health Department’s research was consistent with those other findings, even with a sample size of just 77 young men.
“I wouldn’t have necessarily made my recommendation in earlier stages of the pandemic,” Ladapo admitted. “The guidance in our study clearly states that it is based on the current high level of global immunity to Covid-19, which limits the benefit of vaccination.”
“Backed by the data, I stand by my recommendation against Covid-19 mRNA vaccination for young men. At this point in the pandemic, it is unlikely that the benefits outweigh these risks,” he concluded.
“The public can be assured that I will continue to lead with data, and I will place their interests ahead of political pressure and fear-based ideologies.”
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