Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced Wednesday that the state is moving to phase out all vaccine mandates, including for children to attend schools.
Ladapo said during a Wednesday event in Valrico, Fla., that the state is “working to end” all vaccine mandates. He addedthat “every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.”
“Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body?” Ladapo said during the event. “Your body is a gift from God.”
Ladapo said that Florida state lawmakers “are going to have to make decisions.”
“That’s how this becomes possible,” Ladapo added.
The Sunshine State presently requires current vaccinations for students who attend public school, according to Florida Health’s website.
“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” Ladapo added. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”
Ladapo has been a vocal critic of COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. He has also previously publicly pushed back against COVID-era mask mandates and lockdowns.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who appointed Ladapo in 2021 — notably opposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates for younger kids in 2022. In March 2022, Florida became the first state in the U.S. to issue guidance stating that healthy children aged 5 to 17 may not benefit from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Moreover, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a longtime criticof some childhood vaccinations.
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