In my field, public health, any progress requires having the public’s trust. We work hard to gain expertise and gather facts, so we can provide people the information they need to make health decisions that are good for them and their families. Trust is why people believe what they’ve been told about the dangers of smoking, the importance of wearing seatbelts and the risks of drinking while pregnant. It takes time and effort to build public trust, and ongoing work to maintain it.
Because of that trust in science and the people who communicate about it, over the years we’ve made astounding gains against deadly diseases like polio and everyday dangers like air pollution. But these are strange times, when the polarizing mistrust that infects our politics has bled into historically nonpartisan spheres like education and science.
Take Florida. Updated COVID-19 vaccines available this fall could save the lives of thousands of Floridians, because many are elderly and have underlying medical conditions. The Food and Drug Administration approved the updated vaccines in August and is strongly urging eligible members of public to get them. But the Florida Health Department is advising residents not to take the most recently approved mRNA vaccines. The statement on the department’s website questions the safety of the mRNA vaccines, repeating a number of claims that the FDA debunked nearly a year ago. The statement says that the booster “wrongly” targets the Omnicron variant that is no longer a threat, but all major COVID variants have evolved from Omicron. Notably, the guidance doesn’t mention that a non-mRNA vaccine, Novavax, is available. The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say all three are safe and effective at preventing serious illness from COVID-19. (The Florida Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.)
Who’s right? Who can you trust? In this case, I trust the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the overwhelming consensus of medical professionals, including Dr. Ladapo’s colleagues at the University of Florida College of Medicine, who have denounced his positions on vaccinations as misleading, irresponsible and based on flawed analysis.
As Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on Aug. 22,“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention. These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality.”
Defying the scientific consensus on vaccines is dangerous — and puts lives at risk. Mistrust of the COVID-19 vaccines is having an impact on routine vaccinations as well. The vaccination rate for measles, mumps and rubella in Florida is at a 10-year-low (below 91%, compared with 93% nationally), and it’s been estimated that a single case of measles in the state could spread to more than 100 people over the next nine months.
The Florida Health Department’s latest guidance is particularly risky since the state has the nation’s second largest population of people age 65 or older (21.6%, compared with the national rate of 17.3%) — and people in that group are about 1,000 times more likely than people under 18 to die from COVID-19. Why should Floridians in this age group be the victims of misguided health recommendations that they wouldn’t hear in any other state?
Nothing is risk-free, and sound health guidance plays an important role in helping people understand the relative risks of vaccines, treatments and the diseases they prevent. Floridians — and all Americans — deserve health policies that put science first, especially when it comes to protecting the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. As COVID-19 continues to be a part of our reality, it is more important than ever that health guidance is clear, consistent and scientifically sound. Instead of protecting health, Dr. Ladapo and the agency he leads are putting lives at risk.
Read the full article here