{"id":602209,"date":"2023-01-28T12:49:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T18:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/28\/florida-gov-desantis-falsely-claims-bivalent-booster-boosts-chances-of-covid-infection\/"},"modified":"2023-01-28T12:49:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T18:49:25","slug":"florida-gov-desantis-falsely-claims-bivalent-booster-boosts-chances-of-covid-infection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/28\/florida-gov-desantis-falsely-claims-bivalent-booster-boosts-chances-of-covid-infection\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Gov. DeSantis Falsely Claims Bivalent Booster Boosts Chances of Covid Infection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cAlmost every study now has said with these new boosters, you\u2019re more likely to get infected with the bivalent booster.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Jan. 17, 2023, during a press conference<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As he proposed to extend the state\u2019s ban on mandates for covid vaccines and face masks, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis lobbed a flurry of criticism at President Joe Biden and \u201cthe medical establishment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were not following the science,\u201d DeSantis said at a Jan. 17\u00a0press conference<\/a>\u00a0in Panama City Beach. \u201cAlmost every study now has said with these new boosters, you\u2019re more likely to get infected with the bivalent booster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fewer than 11% of eligible Floridians have received an updated booster vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bivalent booster, which contains components of the original covid virus and the omicron variant, is designed\u00a0to provide<\/a>\u00a0broad protection against illness or hospitalization from those covid strains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Research into the efficacy of the bivalent booster in preventing infection continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Broadly speaking, covid vaccines do not prevent infection; they prevent the virus from spreading within the body and causing severe illness, according to Johns Hopkins University<\/a>. Early CDC research shows<\/a> that people who got the booster were 84% less likely to be hospitalized from covid.<\/p>\n

The data collected on the booster\u2019s ability to curb infection is early and limited. Some clinical trials\u00a0have shown<\/a>\u00a0that bivalent shots are no more equipped to prevent people from contracting covid than the original vaccines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although some people have suggested the bivalent booster offers little protection against infection, DeSantis went further. He said people who received the bivalent booster shot were more susceptible to covid than those who hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s press office responded to PolitiFact\u2019s inquiry about the claim, citing two articles and three studies, two of which are not yet peer-reviewed. The most recent came from the\u00a0Cleveland Clinic and was discussed\u00a0in\u00a0an\u00a0opinion article<\/a>\u00a0in The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

Dr. Nabin Shrestha, an infectious-disease physician and one of the study\u2019s authors, told PolitiFact the data did not find a link between the bivalent shot and a higher risk of contracting covid. The early conclusion was the opposite of what DeSantis said: The dose is, in fact, effective in preventing infection.<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019 Conclusion Could Not Be Drawn From That Study<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cleveland Clinic researchers examined the bivalent booster\u2019s effectiveness in preventing infection among 51,011 health care workers\u00a0\u2014 some of whom had not received the booster \u2014 from September to December 2022. Pfizer and Moderna offer the bivalent booster, which the FDA authorized in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over those four months, about 5% of the clinic\u2019s employees contracted covid. The researchers then estimated that the bivalent booster was about 30% effective in reducing the likelihood of contracting the virus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Clinic researchers were not trying to determine the bivalent vaccine\u2019s effectiveness in preventing severe illness or hospitalization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study wasn\u2019t measuring the vaccine causing infection,\u201d said Jill Roberts, a public health professor at the University of South Florida. \u201cThe study was measuring the efficacy of the bivalent vaccine in preventing infection.\u201d<\/p>\n

What drove coverage in outlets like The Wall Street Journal was an \u201cunexpected\u201d association researchers found between the number of prior vaccine doses and an increased risk of contracting covid. People with three or more doses of the vaccine had a higher chance of getting infected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That finding quickly overshadowed the protection the bivalent shot provided. The Wall Street Journal opinion piece cited the Cleveland Clinic\u2019s study as evidence that vaccine boosters are making \u201cthe population as a whole\u201d more vulnerable to covid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andrea Pacetti, the Cleveland Clinic\u2019s public and media relations director, told PolitiFact that the study population, whose average age was 42, is not reflective of the general public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study was done in a younger, relatively healthy, health care employee population. It included no children, very few elderly individuals and likely few immunocompromised individuals,\u201d Pacetti said. \u201cTherefore, we urge caution in generalizing the findings to the public, which can include different populations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 50% of the health care workers participating in the clinic\u2019s study had received three or more doses of a covid vaccine; only 12% were not vaccinated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Ren\u00e9 Najera, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Public Health at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, said the Cleveland Clinic study\u2019s outcome was unsurprising given the characteristics of the research subjects \u2014 mostly vaccinated health care workers.<\/p>\n

If the majority of the study population received three or more doses of a covid vaccine, for instance, then it is reasonable to assume that the majority of covid cases would occur in that population.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who were studied were health care workers: more likely to be exposed, more likely to be vaccinated as well,\u201d Najera told PolitiFact. \u201cIf the study is found to be sound through peer review, its findings would only be applicable to health care workers in large settings such as the Cleveland Clinic, not the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pacetti further emphasized that the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and \u201cmore research is needed to either confirm or refute this finding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Clinic acknowledged that two other studies had found a similar association between the number of prior vaccine doses and an increased risk of contracting covid, though it had similar limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the studies<\/a>\u00a0had not yet been peer-reviewed, and\u00a0the other<\/a>\u00a0examined only health care employees. And even with that finding, the Cleveland Clinic\u2019s study did not suggest the bivalent booster increased the likelihood of infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019 \u201cstatement is incorrect,\u201d Najera said. \u201cThat conclusion cannot be drawn from that study, and the authors state that it is not designed to evaluate that association.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our Ruling<\/strong><\/p>\n

DeSantis said, \u201cAlmost every study now has said with these new boosters, you\u2019re more likely to get infected with the bivalent booster.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unpublished study from the Cleveland Clinic examined the bivalent covid booster\u2019s effectiveness in preventing infection among a group of about 50,000 health care workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, one of the study\u2019s authors told PolitiFact that the research did not find an association with the bivalent booster and a higher risk of covid. The study found that the bivalent booster is 30% effective in preventing infection from the virus.<\/p>\n

The researchers did find that there could be an association between the number of prior vaccine doses and an increased risk of contracting covid. Still, that finding did not suggest the bivalent booster could cause infection or increase the likelihood of infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We rate DeSantis\u2019\u00a0claim False.<\/p>\n

\n

Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 Rumble,\u00a0\u201cPermanent Protections Against the COVID-19 Biomedical Security State<\/a>,\u201d Jan. 17, 2023<\/p>\n

Cleveland Clinic,\u00a0\u201cEffectiveness of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Bivalent Vaccine<\/a>,\u201d accessed Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

Email interview with Bryan Griffin, press secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis, Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

Email interview with\u00a0Jill Roberts, professor of public health at the University of South Florida, Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

Email interview with Dr. Ren\u00e9 Najera, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Public Health at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

Email interview with Andrea Pacetti, director of public and media relations for the Cleveland Clinic, Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

The Washington Post,\u00a0\u201cNo, Vaccines Aren\u2019t Making New Covid\u00a0Variants Worse<\/a>,\u201d Jan. 6, 2023<\/p>\n

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,\u00a0COVID data tracker<\/a>, accessed Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,\u00a0\u201cEarly Estimates of Bivalent mRNA Vaccine Effectiveness in Preventing COVID-19\u2013Associated Hospitalization<\/a>,\u201d Jan. 20, 2023<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal,\u00a0\u201cAre Vaccines Fueling New Covid\u00a0Variants?<\/a>\u201d Jan. 1, 2023<\/p>\n

U.S. Food and Drug Administration,\u00a0\u201cRumor Control<\/a>,\u201d accessed Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

The Lancet,\u00a0\u201cThe Vaccinated Proportion of People With COVID-19 Needs Context<\/a>,\u201d accessed Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Times,\u00a0\u201cDeSantis Wants Ban on COVID Mask and Vaccine Mandates to Be Permanent<\/a>,\u201d Jan. 17, 2023<\/p>\n

PolitiFact,\u00a0\u201cWhy Were the Recent COVID-19 Boosters Authorized Before Human Trials Were Completed?<\/a>\u201d Sept. 13, 2022<\/p>\n

MedRxiv,\u00a0\u201cA Bivalent Omicron-Containing Booster Vaccine Against Covid-19<\/a>,\u201d accessed Jan. 19, 2023<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Yacob Reyes, PolitiFact<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAlmost every study now has said with these new boosters, you\u2019re more likely to get infected with the bivalent booster.\u201d Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Jan. 17, 2023, during a press conference As he proposed to extend the state\u2019s ban on mandates for covid vaccines and face masks, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis lobbed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":602210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35129,1418],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-602209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-desantis","8":"category-florida"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}