Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's outgoing chief medical adviser, pushed back Wednesday against Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis' call for a grand jury to investigate COVID-19 vaccines, saying he doesn't "have a clue" why.
"We have a vaccine that unequivocally is highly effective and safe and has saved literally millions of lives," Fauci told CNN. "The Commonwealth Fund has come out with a report this past week that vaccinations have saved 3.2 million lives, 18 million hospitalizations, and approximately $1 trillion in costs. So what's the problem with vaccines?"
"It has been politicized, and politicized in a way that has actually cost lives," he continued. "If people don't get vaccinated, which unequivocally is lifesaving, because of political ideology or because of misinformation and disinformation that costs lives.
"We just have to get the American public, regardless of whether you lean left or right, it doesn't matter at all; we're all in this together, we're all human beings and susceptible to disease that can kill us."
DeSantis is calling for a grand jury investigation into alleged "crimes and wrongdoing" related to COVID-19 vaccines and is establishing a Public Health Integrity Committee for Florida, according to The Hill.
On Tuesday, DeSantis' office announced "aggressive action" after the governor participated in a roundtable discussion with doctors, researchers and victims "of adverse events from mRNA vaccines."
"The federal government, medical associations, and other experts have created an expectation that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is an ethical or civic duty and that choosing not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is selfish and harmful to others," DeSantis's petition for the grand jury investigation says.
The petition also claims that it is "impossible to imagine that so many influential individuals came to this view on their own" and that those individuals and companies in favor of vaccination "created these perceptions for financial gain."
Additionally, the Republican governor said he's creating the Public Health Integrity Committee because he does not trust the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"Our CDC, at this point, anything they put out, you just assume, at this point, that it's not worth the paper that it's printed on," DeSantis said at the roundtable, according to The Hill. "It's not serving a useful function. It's really serving to advance narratives."
Under the direction of the Florida surgeon general, the governor's office said the new state committee will examine federal public health recommendations to "ensure that Florida's public health policies are tailored for Florida's communities."
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo will also conduct "autopsy surveillance" by investigating "sudden deaths" in COVID-19 vaccinated individuals, as part of DeSantis' new actions.
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