JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A statement made by Florida's Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Monday is creating controversy.
Ladapo announced a new recommendation that advises against healthy children getting the vaccine.
He made the announcement at a roundtable discussion with doctors and Governor Ron DeSantis Monday, called "The Curtain Close on COVID Theater."
"The Florida Department of Health is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children," Ladapo said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children five and older get the shot. It says the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the known potential risks. According to the CDC, about two million cases of COVID have been reported in children five to 11-years-old.
"This is the most heinous policy that I've experienced in my career, 40 plus years," Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen, professor of pediatrics at University of Florida in Jacksonville and Director of the Duval County Health Department for nearly 15 years, said.
"This is a very sad day for the state of Florida and a worse day for children," Goldhagen said. "This is a devastating policy that will result in expanded number of illnesses of children, increased numbers of hospitalizations and increased numbers of death," he said.
Ladapo, DeSantis and others also talked about what they called "failures" in the COVID-19 response by the federal government and its agencies.
"Some of these topics are going to be controversial. Our goal is truth and transparency," Ladapo said at the start of the roundtable.
"You have this lack of trust in the medical establishment and in the CDC and then the politicization of those institutions, and that’s not going to bode well as a society going forward," DeSantis said. "An aversion to actual data if it conflicts with the narrative then, really, a failure to weigh costs and benefits, whether that’s lockdowns, whether that’s school closures, or whether that’s even something about whether a healthy seven-year-old kid should get the COVID vaccine."
"They are spreading disinformation," Goldhagen said. "There is no reason for the Academy of Pediatrics or the CDC to not be telling the truth," he said.
Goldhagen said he advises parents to listen to their pediatricians and the CDC, not Ladapo and DeSantis.
“Talk to your pediatrician. Talk to your family doctor. Read about the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Read the recommendations from the CDC. Read the recommendations from every reputable medical organization in the state that are pleading with parents to get their children vaccinated," Goldhagen said.
"Do not listen to these disreputable individuals who are playing political games with the lives of your children," Goldhagen said.
White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki echoed Goldhagen's thoughts Monday when she was asked about Ladapo's statement.
"The FDA and CDC have already weighed in on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for those five and older," she said. "The recommendations are vetted transparently through a process with a purpose so that parents can have confidence after consulting with their pediatricians or doctors if they would like, about the safety," Psaki said.
"But we also know through the data that unvaccinated teenagers are three times as likely to be hospitalized if they get COVID than vaccinated teenagers. So, it's deeply disturbing that there are politicians peddling conspiracy theories out there and casting doubt on vaccinations when it is our best tool against the virus and the best tool to prevent even teenagers from being hospitalized," Psaki said.