Florida’s firebrand surgeon general is calling for use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to be stopped.

Joseph Ladapo, M.D., wrote a letter to Robert Califf, M.D., commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Mandy Cohen, M.D., MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), last month. He cited a preprint study from October, which was not peer reviewed or published in a medical journal, claiming there are “nucleic acid contaminants” in both the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines.

Dr. Ladapo claims, without sufficient backing, that these contaminants can lead to the development of cancer, and damage a person’s blood, heart, lungs, liver, kidney and other organs.

The FDA replied to the surgeon general that there was no evidence the shots posed these types of danger, according to a statement from the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday.

    • Zorque@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      That doesn’t change what I said, though. Not voting is effectively a form of voting. Just choosing “none of the above” instead of choosing one of the options.

      Unfortunately it’s typically the least effective choice one can make.

      • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        Not voting isn’t even choosing “none of the above”, that would at least be informative as a protest. I could even imagine a system where it’s a meaningful choice, for example if “none of the above” gets the majority of votes then the election is re-run and none of the previous candidates are eligible for the second attempt.

        Not voting is choosing “I want what everyone who is actually voting picks.”

        • Zorque@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          I mean, yes, choosing a literal “none of the above” options would be more motive. Typically there’s not that option, though. The point was that people who don’t show up to vote, whether it’s motivated by disinterest or desire to protest the system, are effectively the same thing.

    • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      Yeah we do. The problem is that 300k+ people moved here each year during the initial COVID epidemic. The lion’s share of them were GOP symps running away from lockdowns & other mandates. Personally, in my county, Democrats are outnumbered 2 to 1 by the GOP as well as “Independents” now.

      Hopefully this migration will have knock-on effects at the voting booths throughout the country.

      • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        My sympathies to whatever sane people are left in Florida, but yeah, on a national level this looks like the GOP effectively gerrymandering itself. If GOP voters move from purple states to deep red ones that’s a win overall.

      • Zorque@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        I mean, they had to get the power somehow, and that generally starts at the voting booth.

        • snooggums@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          Hard to blame the current disenfranchised voters for not being able to vote out those already abusing their power. Blaming them shifts the attention away from those abusing their power.

          • Zorque@kbin.social
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            10 months ago

            Yes, it makes it hard, but it doesn’t make it impossible. I agree there’s plenty of reasons that people are less able to express themselves by voting… but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

            And just pointing fingers does nothing to fix the situation. We already know the people in power are abusing it, unless you emphasize actually getting rid of them, nothing will change. Saying it’s impossible to vote when it’s not just makes it that much easier for potential voters to decide it’s not worth the effort and just stay home.