Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced Tuesday he is petitioning the Supreme Court of Florida to impanel a grand jury to investigate any wrongdoing related to COVID vaccines.
The announcement was made alongside Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and other health officials at an event focused on “accountability” for the COVID mRNA shots.
“That will come with legal processes that we’ll be able to get more information and to bring legal accountability for those who committed misconduct,” DeSantis said.
Governor Ron DeSantis holds an accountability roundtable for mRNA shots. https://t.co/aiHpQWJ2g2
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 13, 2022
The governor also announced a public advisory board for oversight of “the public health establishment,” as described in a tweet from his press secretary Bryan Griffin.
Just announced: FL, under @GovRonDeSantis, will seek accountability for COVID response blunders & falsehoods:
-A grand jury to investigate COVID mRNA vaccines and applications
-A board to advise the public and provide oversight moving forward of the public health establishment
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) December 13, 2022
DeSantis is interested in data from mRNA vaccine makers over concerns that they may be withholding information about side effects from the jabs, according to WKMG News.
These concerns have been spurred by studies linking an increase in myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle, in teenagers and young adults after receiving the mRNA vaccine.
Myocarditis after mRNA COVID vaccination is “rare yet potentially serious,” according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in The Lancet.
The Food and Drug Administration has required the drugmakers, Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna, to study the potential long-term effects of myocarditis after COVID vaccines, and NBC News reported last month that sources said early findings could be published as early as next year.
The Daily Wire reached out to Pfizer and Moderna for a response to DeSantis.
“Regulatory agencies across the world have authorized the use of our COVID-19 vaccine,” a Pfizer spokesperson said in a statement. “These authorizations are based on robust and independent evaluation of the scientific data on quality, safety and efficacy, including our landmark phase 3 clinical trial. Data from real world studies complement the clinical trial data and provide additional evidence that the vaccine provides effective protection against severe disease.”
The Pfizer representative added: “Over the course of this deadly pandemic, mRNA vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, tens of billions of dollars in health care costs, and enabled people worldwide to go about their lives more freely. As of November 27th, 2022, we have delivered 4.3 billion vaccines to 181 countries and territories in every region of the world.”
When announcing last week that his administration planned to scrutinize vaccine manufacturers, DeSantis cited research in Florida finding a rise in heart problems.
“We did a study in Florida, and you saw an 86% increase in cardiac-related activity from people 18 to 39 from mRNA shots,” DeSantis said, according to WFLA, a local NBC affiliate. “So we’re going to be doing some stuff to bring accountability there.”