Daniel Engber

Because I think you would still have most doctors in the country believing that these vaccines were extremely important for their patients. You would still have most parents believing that. I mean, the large majority of parents strongly endorse the value of vaccines and many, many local health officials. So I don't know. I mean, it's It's hard to say.

I do think about what's going on in Florida as maybe a case study. So, you know, Ron DeSantis, when he was challenging Trump for the nomination, seemed to have made a decision to run as the vaccine skeptical candidate. Trump's history here is a little weird, right? He took credit reasonably for Operation Warp Speed, which developed the COVID vaccine really quickly.

I do think about what's going on in Florida as maybe a case study. So, you know, Ron DeSantis, when he was challenging Trump for the nomination, seemed to have made a decision to run as the vaccine skeptical candidate. Trump's history here is a little weird, right? He took credit reasonably for Operation Warp Speed, which developed the COVID vaccine really quickly.

I do think about what's going on in Florida as maybe a case study. So, you know, Ron DeSantis, when he was challenging Trump for the nomination, seemed to have made a decision to run as the vaccine skeptical candidate. Trump's history here is a little weird, right? He took credit reasonably for Operation Warp Speed, which developed the COVID vaccine really quickly.

Was proud of it, endorsed it initially, and then kind of following his constituents, drifted a little bit in the other direction over time and then came out against vaccine mandates in schools and then... seems to have an ambivalent attitude towards the COVID vaccine, let's say. But DeSantis, I think, saw this as an opening and said, okay, I'm going to really lean into this.

Was proud of it, endorsed it initially, and then kind of following his constituents, drifted a little bit in the other direction over time and then came out against vaccine mandates in schools and then... seems to have an ambivalent attitude towards the COVID vaccine, let's say. But DeSantis, I think, saw this as an opening and said, okay, I'm going to really lean into this.

Was proud of it, endorsed it initially, and then kind of following his constituents, drifted a little bit in the other direction over time and then came out against vaccine mandates in schools and then... seems to have an ambivalent attitude towards the COVID vaccine, let's say. But DeSantis, I think, saw this as an opening and said, okay, I'm going to really lean into this.

There are a lot of Republican voters for whom this is an important issue. So DeSantis himself had been very excited about the COVID vaccine initially and then kind of turned against it. And he brought in a guy named Joseph Latipo to head the Florida Health Department in the end of 2021.

There are a lot of Republican voters for whom this is an important issue. So DeSantis himself had been very excited about the COVID vaccine initially and then kind of turned against it. And he brought in a guy named Joseph Latipo to head the Florida Health Department in the end of 2021.

There are a lot of Republican voters for whom this is an important issue. So DeSantis himself had been very excited about the COVID vaccine initially and then kind of turned against it. And he brought in a guy named Joseph Latipo to head the Florida Health Department in the end of 2021.

And LATIPO has been, among other things, quite an aggressive opponent of COVID vaccination, not just of vaccine mandates. That's kind of the standard position. LATIPO has been warning people in Florida that the COVID mRNA vaccines are potentially unsafe. and that no one should get them ever. At first, he was like, well, you know, they're dangerous for young people.

And LATIPO has been, among other things, quite an aggressive opponent of COVID vaccination, not just of vaccine mandates. That's kind of the standard position. LATIPO has been warning people in Florida that the COVID mRNA vaccines are potentially unsafe. and that no one should get them ever. At first, he was like, well, you know, they're dangerous for young people.

And LATIPO has been, among other things, quite an aggressive opponent of COVID vaccination, not just of vaccine mandates. That's kind of the standard position. LATIPO has been warning people in Florida that the COVID mRNA vaccines are potentially unsafe. and that no one should get them ever. At first, he was like, well, you know, they're dangerous for young people.

And most recently, he's just said mRNA vaccines are potentially dangerous, period. For a statewide official to be so aggressive about recommending against the use of a CDC-recommended vaccine, that's very unusual.

And most recently, he's just said mRNA vaccines are potentially dangerous, period. For a statewide official to be so aggressive about recommending against the use of a CDC-recommended vaccine, that's very unusual.

And most recently, he's just said mRNA vaccines are potentially dangerous, period. For a statewide official to be so aggressive about recommending against the use of a CDC-recommended vaccine, that's very unusual.

So he's been in charge since late 2021. COVID booster uptake has been low everywhere. But what I thought was quite interesting is when I started looking at the stats for Florida, it was really hard to find like a Latipo effect. Again, this would be an effect of having the person in charge of your statewide public health department recommending against vaccination. Like you might think,

So he's been in charge since late 2021. COVID booster uptake has been low everywhere. But what I thought was quite interesting is when I started looking at the stats for Florida, it was really hard to find like a Latipo effect. Again, this would be an effect of having the person in charge of your statewide public health department recommending against vaccination. Like you might think,

So he's been in charge since late 2021. COVID booster uptake has been low everywhere. But what I thought was quite interesting is when I started looking at the stats for Florida, it was really hard to find like a Latipo effect. Again, this would be an effect of having the person in charge of your statewide public health department recommending against vaccination. Like you might think,

coming to this fresh that, well, that person is going to have so much power and control. Their word is going to be so influential. So you would expect their vaccination rates, COVID vaccination rates in Florida to fall off a cliff. They didn't. And age-adjusted COVID mortality rates did not increase.