State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo will work with UF in COVID-19 vaccine research

After a discussion with health experts, the Florida surgeon general announced that the University of Florida will be assisting him in researching the effects of the COVID-19 vaccination.

State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said he would conduct research through UF to look into the deaths of "healthy" people who died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

The roundtable discussion was held on Dec. 13, where Gov. Ron DeSantis also announced that he would petition the Florida Supreme Court to empanel a grand jury to investigate “any and all wrongdoing” related to the COVID-19 vaccine.

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According to a press release from DeSantis' office, the COVID-19 vaccination has caused adverse effects such as shingles, appendicitis, coagulation disorders, acute cardiac injuries, Bell’s palsy and encephalitis.

Despite the controversy surrounding the vaccine, UF Health experts and physicians have told the Gainesville Sun numerous times that the vaccine is safe and one of the best ways to protect oneself from the COVID-19 virus.

Kartik Cherabuddi, a UF professor of infectious diseases and global medicine, said in a text message that UF and UF Health review all published evidence and continue to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

“And recommend the COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations. For specific situations we ask our patients to discuss with their physicians on the protective mechanisms that best suit them including ventilation, masking, vaccination, preventive monoclonal antibodies, testing and early treatment,” Cherabuddi said.

Dr. Nicole Iovine, UF Health Shands hospital system's chief epidemiologist, said she's unsure what the state surgeon general has planned, but she said it's been shown countless times that the COVID-19 vaccine works.

"One thing I would say is that I would think that when you're studying vaccines, you could study vaccine efficacy. You could study its ability to prevent hospitalization, but you can also study other effects that it has. I don't think going out looking for harm in the vaccine would be the whole story," Iovine said.

In the press release, Ladapo said the Biden Administration and pharmaceutical corporations continue to distribute the mRNA vaccines.

“Including children as young as six months old, through relentless propaganda while ignoring real-life adverse events,” Ladapo said.

During the discussion, Ladapo talked about a clinical research study conducted at a university in Germany. Autopsies were conducted on healthy people who died suddenly without any known acute illness after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.

“They looked at four out of 35 people, who actually had myocarditis and it was a type of myocarditis that was different from the typical types of myocarditis,” Ladapo said.

According to Mayo Clinic, myocarditis is an inflammation in the heart muscle that can reduce the heart's ability to pump blood.

“Specifically it was a type of myocarditis that they attributed to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. It is important to know that these people died at home suddenly,” Ladapo said.

However, Iovine said the links to myocarditis were linked to the Johnson and Johnson vaccination, which isn't used as widely anymore.

"I can tell you that we have not had any concerning indicators that out of the thousands and thousands of people we have vaccinated through UF Health there just haven't been any cases of myocarditis that I am aware of," Iovine said.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: COVID: State surgeon general works with UF to investigate vaccine