Drew Dixon
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo defended his decision and plans to end all state-mandated vaccines on CNN Sunday morning during questioning from the network’s anchor Jake Tapper.
Right off the bat, Tapper asked Ladapo if the state used scientific analysis or data to decide to work toward ending vaccine requirements. The move would end vaccine mandates even for schoolchildren in the Sunshine State, and Lapado said his office did not use scientific comparisons.
“Absolutely not,” Ladapo said bluntly on CNN. “ … There’s this conflation of the science and, sort of, what is the right and wrong thing to do.
“You (Tapper) mentioned Whooping Cough, that is an example and part of this issue of informed consent. That’s an example of a vaccine that is ineffective. The data show that it is ineffective at preventing transmission, so mandates with that really don’t have anything to do with the notion of transmission.”
The state currently has in place pre-K-12 immunization requirements for polio, measles-mumps-rubella, chickenpox, Hepatitis B, and other diseases. Ladapo said Thursday that those mandates drip “with disdain and slavery.” He added the state has no right to tell parents what they should put in a body, which is “a gift for God.”
Building upon that theme, Ladapo told Tapper that medical decisions, such as prescribing medications and issuing mandates, are overreach by the state. Ultimately, he said Sunday, it’s not the government’s call.
“This is an issue, very clearly, of parents’ rights. So, do I need to analyze whether it’s appropriate for parents to be able to decide what’s appropriate to go into their child’s bodies? I don’t need to do an analysis on that,” Ladapo said.
Tapper followed up, asking if Ladapo had conducted any analysis or projections on the health impacts that might result from lifting vaccine mandates in public schools, which no other state in the country is doing. He pointed out that a Washington Post-KFF poll shows 82% of parents in Florida favor vaccine mandates in public schools.
“My history, if you will, is I share what I believe is the right thing to do, whether it is popular or not,” Ladapo said, adding he did so during the COVID-19 outbreak that began in 2020. He claimed the lockdowns were not appropriate while speaking out against the virus vaccines for children.
Tapper responded that he was “kind of shocked” that Ladapo didn’t conduct any analysis projecting what might happen to schoolchildren should vaccine mandates end in Florida.
Ladapo added he considers the issue an ethical issue and is out to protect the “individual sovereignty” of the bodies of Floridians.
