Those COVID-19 vaccines that seem so controversial in some quarters? They can help cure cancer. Thanks, science
News and views for thoughtful Floridians
Those loud noises you just heard? They were Ron DeSantis and Joe Ladapo’s heads exploding.
Metaphorically, of course.
The state’s leading champions of returning Florida to the Dark Ages cannot be happy with the news coming out of the University of Florida and other medical research centers showing that the COVID-19 vaccine helps cancer patients.
Gov. DeSantis and Ladapo—the state’s surgeon general—have made a big show of demanding that school vaccination programs be abolished.
I’ve written about this extensively here (links below), but the upshot is that if our governor and the leader of the state’s health department have their way, the risk of deadly contagious diseases such as polio will turn the Free State of Florida into the Plague State of Florida.
Currently, kids entering schools are required to get a number of immunizations ranging from chickenpox to, as mentioned, polio, an often crippling and fatal disease that afflicted millions of mid-20th-century Americans, many of them children.
It’s not in the news so much anymore. Why? Vaccines, of course.
What’s the rationale for doing away with such a successful disease-prevention strategy?
Here’s Ladapo’s scientific analysis:
“Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.”
So, heroin’s okay, then?
Sorry. I shouldn’t vent like that. I get cranky in the face of idiocy.
Here’s what the actual scientific research from the University of Florida and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center shows, this from Science.org:
People with cancer who coincidentally received the mRNA shots before starting drugs designed to unleash the immune system against tumors lived significantly longer than those who didn’t get vaccinated, a research team announced yesterday at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Berlin. Laboratory experiments by the group suggest the vaccines rev up the immune system, making even stubborn tumors more susceptible to treatment.
Ladapo cannot be pleased with the concurring results from the University of Florida, where he is, technically, a professor of medicine.
Said Dr. Duane Mitchell, director of the UF Clinical Translational Science Institute:
“The notion that we may be able to use a simple vaccine to awaken a patient’s immune response to better fight their disease may totally change the way we think about treating cancer for the foreseeable future.”
In other words, vaccines work.
So sorry, Gov. DeSantis and Dr. Ladapo. Science says you’re wrong.
Related:
mRNA vaccine boosted immune response, life expectancy for cancer patients, UF research finds
A surprise bonus from COVID-19 vaccines: bolstering cancer treatment
Ending childhood vaccinations gives Democrats a wedge issue in coming elections
What do you think? Share your views by clicking on the COMMENTS link at the end of this newsletter. Thanks!
Who said Mx???
State Attorney General James Uthmeier has vaulted into action on the news that an elementary school teacher in Gainesville used the pronoun “Mx.”
He wrote the local school superintendent a two-page letter warning that unless the school put a stop to this sexually loaded pronoun, the Free State of Florida would step in with the full force of the law.
Under Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, inappropriate pronouns are forbidden to be used in schools. Miss is fine. So is Mrs. Ms. gets a pass, too. But Mx? Oh, no.
If you are unfamiliar with this new pronoun, it is designed to be gender neutral. Ironically, MX is also the country code for Mexico.
Mexico, of course, is not a pronoun, it is a proper noun. But you can’t say that, either, in the Free State of Florida when referring to that big body of water off the Left Coast of the state.
Good to know our leaders have their priorities straight.
Tropic Watch
The National Hurricane Center threat maps indicate that Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to grow into a major hurricane by Sunday, but that its path is predicted to skirt east of Florida. However, “life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides” are expected in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola, home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
From social media:
Substack writer Mary Geddry had this to offer this morning: Donald Trump had another one of his nocturnal brain spasms last night and declared that all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated. The reason? Ontario Premier Doug Ford is running a $75 million ad campaign across the U.S. featuring Ronald Reagan’s voice warning that tariffs wreck economies. In Trump’s mind, this is an act of foreign election interference, by a dead president.
Today is …
The World Series starts today. The Los Angeles Dodgers will face off in Toronto against the Blue Jays starting at 8 p.m. in the best-of-seven series. The last time a Canadian team was in the series was in 1993, when the Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. No word on whether Canada is imposing retaliatory tariffs on tickets.
Quote of the day
“I only wear two rings: a wedding ring and my World Series ring.”
— Joe Garagiola
Florida factual
Florida has hosted the World Series three times:
1997: The Florida Marlins hosted and won the World Series against the Cleveland Indians.
2003: The Florida Marlins hosted and won the World Series against the New York Yankees.
2008: The Tampa Bay Rays hosted the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Parting shot
More online
Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, copies of the Monthly Memo, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.
J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. Forward this email to your friends. They will love you for it.
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Lifelong Floridian, 55y. Just got my triple jab (flu, covid, first shingles shot). My husband and I had no problems getting our shots (yay Publix). I have autoimmune diseases and other chronic illnesses.
However I am hearing of other people and children being refused covid vaccines, even with a prescription, or being refused without a prescription. I am looking at you CVS.
I just read about this discovery yesterday, so happy to hear this.
Fuck Deathsantis. Fuck Wormbrain rfk and UF should fire that cult member.
I am extra pissed bc one of my kids is a medical first responder here and will be the one responding to dead and dying kids 😡
As you say the ban on vacinnes is just plain idiocy. What amazes me is not that they believe it, but that they think it is somehow to their political advantage to do so. I really don't think they believe it. I would bet that Mrs. DeSantis doesn't and that her kids have all the shots. Are there really enough voters out there who so resent the government tellling them what to do that they would give DeSantis their vote over a pro-vacinnation candidate? There really are? I guess you're right. Look how many people continue to vote for Trump no matter what he does and says. God help us.