Florida Plan to Recommend Against COVID Vaccine For Kids Under Fire

March 8, 2022

Health consultants throughout the nation spoke out in opposition to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo after he stated the state Department of Health will advocate wholesome youngsters not be vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19.

“The Surgeon General’s feedback right now misrepresent the advantages of the vaccine, which has been confirmed to forestall critical sickness, hospitalizations and long-term signs from COVID-19 in youngsters and adolescents, together with those that are in any other case wholesome,” Lisa Gwynn, MD, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated in an announcement.

“The proof is obvious that when individuals are vaccinated, they’re considerably much less prone to get very sick and want hospital care. There is widespread consensus amongst medical and public well being consultants concerning the life-saving advantages of this vaccine.”

On Monday, Ladapo stated the state Department of Health will advocate wholesome youngsters not be vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 as a result of the vaccine’s advantages don’t warrant the dangers. Lapado didn’t say precisely when the state would formally take a place in opposition to the vaccine for youngsters, CNN reported.

He spoke at a roundtable in West Palm Beach referred to as to debate “the failures of lockdowns and mandates in response to COVID-19.” Florida could be the primary state to take a place in opposition to youngster vaccinations for COVID.

Paul Offit, MD, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, referred to as Lapado’s assertion “wholly irresponsible and utterly unsupported.”

“Although it’s true that youngsters are much less prone to be contaminated and it’s true that youngsters are much less prone to be severely contaminated, they will nonetheless be contaminated, they usually can nonetheless be severely contaminated,” Offit stated on CNN. 

“What the Florida surgeon basic did not do was in any sense clarify himself. What attainable cause might he have for not giving this vaccine to youngsters and placing them able the place they should undergo this illness?”

Lapado cited a research from the New York State Department of Health which discovered the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness in opposition to hospitalizations and infections in youngsters aged 5-11 dropped sharply over six weeks.

The CDC and most medical professionals, together with the New York researchers who carried out the research, say the COVID vaccine stays important to curb extreme illness with the virus. The FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine for youngsters age 5 and older.

William Schaffner, MD, a professor within the division of infectious illness at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, joined the outcry in opposition to Lapado.

“The advantages clearly outweigh the dangers, they usually present us a firmer basis for the management of Covid going ahead,” Schaffner stated to CNN.