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“I don’t trust the government” and “the data is a joke,” said a commissioner.
With school starting next week, Steven Elias, a parent from Winter Haven, appeared before the Polk County commission on Tuesday to share his concerns about the COVID vaccine and its difficulty determining the right data to help take the better decisions for her children.
Officials at local hospitals have been pushing the vaccination since its rollout in October. They continued to promote the free and widely available vaccine to all people 12 and older throughout the summer amid a recent spike in COVID cases and hospitalizations that are particularly impacting populations over young and unvaccinated.
Those responsible for the health of the unvaccinated: “You will most likely be infected within the next few months,” Polk health officials say
Checking the facts: 6 of the most persistent misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines
But no health official was present at that committee meeting to respond to the father’s comments or provide him with information based on data, science and first-hand experience.
Instead, the commissioners shared their own thoughts and opinions on the virus and its vaccine. In doing so, they made false claims – such as children don’t get COVID – and amplified some common misconceptions, such as calling the vaccine “experimental.”
A commissioner, who is paid by taxpayers for his role in government, told the Ledger he does not trust the government.
Health officials “concerned” about messages and suggest corrections
At one point during Tuesday’s committee meeting, after Elias said he was not sure his children needed the vaccine, Commissioner Neil Combee said: “We know children don’t need the vaccine. not receive COVID-19. They don’t get the Delta variant. “
It’s wrong.
On June 4, the Florida Department of Health stopped releasing reports directly to the public showing daily COVID cases and demographic breakdowns by county. Therefore, statewide data showing the number of pediatric cases in recent weeks cannot be easily collected.
However, of the 989 new cases in Polk County on Wednesday, 14% were in children 14 and under, according to the Florida Department of Health for Polk and Hardee Counties.
“To those who say, ‘Oh, kids don’t get that,’ that’s absolutely wrong,” department head Dr Joy Jackson said at a press conference Thursday. “Children can be infected, children can pass the infection on.”
She added, “The good news is that children, especially younger ones, are generally less sick. Thank the Lord for that. But children can be quite infected.”
Three of five Polk County commissioners on Tuesday called the vaccine “experimental.”
This is also false, because the three vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States have been the subject of clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people and have been shown to be effective.
Not only are health officials scrambling to tackle the virus while touting the vaccine’s benefits, they must also tackle all the misinformation that is circulating on social media and even government meetings.
“It’s fair to say that we felt a bit unheard and I’m just not used to it in my career,” said Dr Steven Achinger, Managing Partner of the Watson Clinic, at a conference. press two days after the Polk Commission Meeting.
“We have all been concerned about communications that undermine confidence in the vaccine,” Mary Mayhew, CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, said in a telephone interview with The Ledger on Wednesday.
She noted that of the 12,040 people hospitalized in Florida at that time, many were under 40 and 90 percent were unvaccinated.
“The vaccine works,” Mayhew said. “If we want to stop the mutations and the spread of this virus, we need to vaccinate people who can be vaccinated. “
This includes children ages 12 and older, said Dr. Mobeen Rathore, a pediatrician and professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville. He is also the past president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“We are seeing a lot more children admitted to hospital, very sick, going to intensive care and going on ventilators,” Rathore said. “We must do everything in our power to protect our children. “
The best way to do this is to use masks and the vaccine, he added.
“It’s a safe vaccine; it’s an effective vaccine, ”said Rathore. ” That’s the proof. It’s science. This is what we know.
Different messages in Polk County: “I don’t trust the government”
Leaders of local hospitals with Lakeland Regional Health, the Florida Department of Health in Polk County and the Watson Clinic on Thursday called a press conference focused on the latest COVID peak.
Their message: Get vaccinated.
“For Polk County, I encourage you to get vaccinated if you haven’t been infected yet,” said Dr. Timothy Regan, chief medical officer and president of Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center.
“It is extremely effective, you will have minimal side effects if you have any side effects, and you will be safe. I encourage you all to research the vaccine and do what you can to stay safe.”
Two days earlier, elected officials of the Polk County Commission had given its 700,000 inhabitants, including the 47% who are not vaccinated, a different message.
The majority said the general public must decide what is best for them and their families.
“If you feel like getting the shot, it’s your call,” Commissioner Rick Wilson, who is chairman, told The Ledger in a phone call this week. “I don’t think it’s the government’s position to sit there and tell us what to do, it’s your own life and it’s your families.”
But at the same meeting where they encouraged residents to decide for themselves, some information was misrepresented with no one offering corrections.
“You worry about your children and you want to make the right decision,” Commissioner Bill Braswell told Elias during public comment time. “But I don’t think there is enough evidence anywhere on the planet to make an absolutely informed decision. It is an experimental drug.
Combee criticized the data.
“This is an experimental drug. We don’t know what the risks are to our children, ”Combee said. “We know children don’t get COVID-19. The data is convoluted; no one clarifies them. Data is a joke. “
Later, during a phone call with The Ledger, he said, “I don’t trust the government” and asserted that public health workers like Jackson were not going to “walk away” from the government. beliefs of Dr.Anthony Fauci, who formerly led Donald Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force and currently serves as Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden.
Last year, Jackson, along with the local health department, regularly addressed the commission regarding the COVID pandemic.
She hasn’t done it all summer, even as the Delta Variant crosses Florida.
Asked by The Ledger who the public should trust, Combee said. “They have to make their own decision about it.
Commissioner Santiago: “We just don’t know who to believe”
When Elias spoke during the public comment period, he said one of the reasons he was hesitant about the vaccine was reports he had seen suggesting that thousands were dying from it.
It refers to deaths reported to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS) that have not been verified. Anyone – from doctors and nurses to parents and patients – can submit suspected vaccine side effects to VAERS. This wide access has led to invented entries, and federal experts reviewing the reports have found no evidence of widespread deaths or serious side effects caused by the vaccines.
The CDC’s website includes a disclaimer regarding the report, stating that it “may contain incomplete, inaccurate, confidential or unverifiable information.”
Checking the facts: Vaccine Adverse Reaction Reporting System Not Proof of COVID-19 Vaccine Deaths
At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Martha Santiago spoke of “disinformation”.
“There is so much misinformation out there. We just don’t know who to believe, ”she said. “Someone says ‘Alright, do it (get vaccinated)’ and someone else says ‘No, be careful.'”
She added: “Everyone is going to have to make a personal choice about what to do with their children.”
Polk County has done all it can, commissioners say
Local hospital leaders are feeling the pressure of the Delta variant.
AdventHealth Central Florida said it had 1,350 patients admitted for COVID Thursday morning at its sites in Polk, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Volusia and Flagler counties. That’s a 35% increase from last week.
Lakeland Regional Health reported 274 COVID patients hospitalized at its medical center Thursday morning, an increase of about 28% in one week. It far exceeded the medical center’s previous peak of 180 patients in January and represents an increase of more than 550% from the record low of 41 COVID patients reported six weeks ago on June 25.
Commissioner Braswell said he did not know what more the county could do regarding COVID education.
“We heard the stories, it’s the headline every night,” he said. “The county made the vaccines available from day one and encouraged people to get vaccinated. “
Commissioner George Lindsey made similar comments.
“Polk County has been the leader in spreading information, organizing vaccine inoculation and making masks available to everyone,” Lindsey said. “Our website is often updated on vaccine locations.”
But Lindsey said it may be time to bring health officials back for another update due to the spike in cases.
“I don’t know how much more we could do,” he said. “If people don’t know what’s going on and the urgency to take personal responsibility, they have to live under a rock.”
Ledger Editor Sara-Megan Walsh contributed to this report. Dustin Wyatt covers Polk County government and county wide issues. He can be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter @LLDustin_Wyatt.
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