the wikipedia article on the Rod of Asclepius tells the story of the parasitic worms, so while the GP perhaps should not have mentioned Caduceus, he's referring to an actual story associated with the medical symbol.

And in the age of Covid, perhaps the Caduceus "ancient and consistent associations with trade, liars, thieves, eloquence, negotiation, alchemy, and wisdom" is just perfect for the state of medical science and public health and laboratory gain of function experiments, horse dewormers, and mRNA vaccines which turn out to be no so much like the vaccines we're used to.