DeSantis Vows To 'Fight Back' After FDA Pulls Monoclonal Treatments
The drugs had become a centerpiece of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' coronavirus response as he resisted vaccine mandates and other safety measures.
LEARN MOREFlorida To Recommend Against COVID-19 Vaccines For Healthy Kids
Last month, the state health department discouraged mask-wearing and pushed physicians to exercise their own judgement when treating virus patients.
Chris O'Meara / AP
March 7, 2022
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said Monday that the state will formally recommend against COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children.
Ladapo made the announcement at a roundtable event organized by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that featured a group of doctors who criticized coronavirus lockdowns and mandate policies. It was not immediately clear when the state would release its health guidance.
“The Florida Department of Health is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children,” Ladapo said at the end of the roundtable discussion.
“We’re kind of scraping at the bottom of the barrel, particularly with healthy kids, in terms of actually being able to quantify with any accuracy and any confidence the even potential of benefit,” he added.
Late last month, Ladapo and DeSantis announced new virus policy recommendations that discouraged mask-wearing and directed physicians to exercise their own judgment when treating virus patients, including the use of emerging treatments and off-label medications.
The Florida state Senate confirmed Ladapo as surgeon general despite criticism that his virus health policy is too aligned with the anti-lockdown and mandate politics of DeSantis.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
9:14
What living with long COVID is really like
Scripps News talked to a dozen people with long-term COVID symptoms about their current experience and their hope for the future.
New data links COVID-19 pandemic's origins to raccoon dogs
The discovery does not prove that raccoon dogs or any other animals infected with COVID triggered the pandemic.
0:36
China to reopen to tourists, resume all visas Wednesday
China had stuck to a harsh "zero-COVID" strategy involving sudden lockdowns and daily COVID-19 testing to try to stop the virus.
Top Stories
10:24
Why does today's audience say certain fictional characters are gay?
In this segment of "Pop Quiz," Scripps News explores how historians and viewers are speculating about queer subtext in new and old media.
2:50
Los Angeles school support staff at an impasse in higher pay talks
Cafeteria workers, bus drivers and other school support staff employees say the district isn't meeting their requests.
3:01
This basketball magazine is mixing art with 'outlandish' sport stories
Flagrant Magazine is carving out its own space in the sports media industry by mixing abstract basketball art with culture stories from off the court.
