Florida surgeon general bucks CDC with a decree that children should not be vaccinated against COVID-19

Florida’s newly sworn-in and highly controversial Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced on Monday that healthy children do not need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, breaking with the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that all kids over the age of five receive inoculations against the deadly virus.

Florida “is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children,” Ladapo said without further explanation at a conference in West Palm Beach. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis arranged the meeting to discuss the “failures” in the federal responses to the pandemic, the Miami Herald-Tribune reported.

Per the Herald-Tribune:

The announcement came after multiple health experts picked by DeSantis to participate in the roundtable downplayed the importance of the vaccine for children, with some saying the benefits of vaccination do not outweigh the risks.

Dr. Robert Malone, who has risen to prominence for contradicting the scientific consensus on COVID-19, claimed that ‘the consensus of over 17,000 physicians and medical scientists are that the risk-benefit ratio for children does not justify vaccination.’

Malone appeared to be referring to a declaration signed by medical professionals at a ‘Global COVID Summit’ in January.

Ladapo’s decree establishes Florida as the only state in the country to countermand the CDC’s guidance.

"CDC recommends everyone ages 5 years and older gets a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19," states the agency’s website.

That scientifically sound opinion was echoed by Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a professor of pediatric medicine and epidemiology at the University of Florida.

"Although children are at lower risk than adults, they are certainly not at no risk from COVID-19,” she said, adding that "COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be safe with a very low risk of adverse outcomes. The benefits of COVID-19 vaccines greatly outweigh the potential risks.”