Florida goes against CDC, becomes first state to advise against COVID-19 vaccine for healthy kids

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Monday announced that his state health department will be the first to recommend against the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children. 

Ladapo made the announcement during a roundtable discussion, "The Curtain Close on COVID Theater."

“The Florida Department of Health is going to be the first state [health department] to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children,” Ladapo said.

He did not state who would be classified as a healthy child, nor did he explain the reasons behind his announcement. 

The state's COVID-19 website has not been updated, but simply stated that as of January the "CDC recommends that moderately or severely immunocompromised children 5-11 years old receive an additional primary dose of vaccine 28 days after their second shot." The website also states that the CDC recommends for children ages 5-11 should be vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine against COVID.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not comment to The Epoch Times on Florida's decision but pointed to its recommendation that children should be vaccinated.

About 945,000 people have been recorded by the CDC as having died from COVID since the start of the pandemic, less than 900 of whom were under the age of 18.

“If you have a child with risk factors to COVID, that’s a discussion with your pediatrician, but if you have a healthy child, your chances of that child dying are incredibly low. Essentially close to zero, if not zero,” Dr. Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professor, said at the event, according to Epoch.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis tweeted after the event: "In Florida, we protect the rights of Floridians to make decisions for themselves and their children. We reject narratives and hysteria in favor of truth and data. There is no place in Florida for COVID theater."