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Defying guidance from the nation's top infectious disease and pediatric health experts, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced Monday that the state will become the first in the nation to recommend that healthy kids not get vaccinated for COVID-19. Ladapo made the announcement at the end of a roundtable discussion in West Palm Beach that Gov. Ron DeSantis convened to discuss "failures" in the response to COVID-19. Florida “is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children,” Ladapo said. (Anderson, 3/7)

Florida “is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children,” state surgeon general Joseph Ladapo said at the end of a roundtable discussion on the virus response. Ladapo did not provide details such as who would qualify as a healthy child, or go into the reasoning for his decision.  The move is an escalation in the divide of Florida’s pandemic response under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) from that of national experts.  (Sullivan, 3/7)

After Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo declared on Monday the state would issue guidance urging parents not to vaccinate their children against Covid-19, health experts and officials were quick to highlight the dangers of such a policy for individuals and for country at large. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said Ladapo's statement is "wholly irresponsible and completely unsupported." "Although it is true that children are less likely to be infected and it is true that children are less likely to be severely infected, they can still be infected, and they can still be severely infected," Offit told CNN. (Caldwell, 3/8)

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced Monday that the state will recommend that healthy children not be vaccinated against Covid-19, further muddying already roiling waters over Covid-19 vaccination for kids. Ladapo’s decision is unlikely to interfere with the efforts of parents who want to have their children vaccinated, experts told STAT. But they added it will likely dissuade some parents who have been on the fence. (Branswell, 3/7)

Should kids get vaccinated against COVID-19?The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is the official health agency of the United States, recommends everyone 5 and older get vaccinated against the disease to help keep them and others safe. So does the American Academy of Pediatrics. Many doctors across the country, including in South Florida, have also been recommending vaccinations. However, Florida Department of Health Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced Monday during a roundtable discussion on COVID-19 mitigation policies that the state will no longer be recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy kids. He said it would be the first recommendation of its kind in the country. (Marchante, 3/7)