Amidst CDC Vote, DeSantis Declares No COVID Vaccine Mandates for Florida Children ‘As Long as I’m Kicking and Screaming’

FORT MYERS BEACH (FLV) – Amidst the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vote to add COVID-19 vaccines to the childhood vaccine schedule, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared at a press conference mandates would not be legally permitted.

“As long as I’m kicking and screaming, there will be no COVID shot mandates for your kids […] There’s not really been a proven benefit [for young children]. We can get into some of the potential side effects, you don’t even really need to do that,” DeSantis said.

The CDC voted Thursday to add the vaccine to the schedule, which is not a mandate, but a recommendation typically followed by states and schools in the form of mandates for participation.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has been a long-time critic of some claims made by supporters of the COVID-19 vaccine, this year recommending against it for males aged 18-39 because of new data finding elevated cardiac risk.

“Results from the stratified analysis for cardiac-related death following vaccination suggests mRNA vaccination may be driving the increased risk in males, especially among males aged 18 – 39,” the review from the Florida Department of Health says.

Guidance from the Florida Department of Health also warns that risks “may” outweigh the supposed benefits for healthy children..

“For children with underlying health conditions or comorbidities, COVID-19 vaccines should be considered in consultation with your health care practitioner. Parents are encouraged to discuss the risks and benefits with their children’s health care practitioner when evaluating whether their child should receive a COVID-19 vaccine, particularly for children with underlying health conditions or comorbidities,” the Department said in March.

“Regardless of what [CDC] votes on whether COVID-19 vax are added to routine child immunizations – nothing changes in FL,” Ladapo has declared. “Thanks to [Gov. Ron DeSantis], COVID mandates are NOT allowed in FL, NOT pushed into schools, & I continue to recommend against them for healthy kids.”

“Studying the safety and efficacy of any medications, including vaccines, is an important component of public health,” Ladapo previously said. “Far less attention has been paid to safety and the concerns of many individuals have been dismissed – these are important findings that should be communicated to Floridians.”

Shortly after the surgeon general tweeted the announcement, Twitter blocked users from seeing it before restoring it.

In August, Ladapo called for the medical establishment to spend more resources looking into myocarditis in young boys after COVID vaccination.

“A pre-print from Thailand found that 3.5% of adolescent boys had overt or subclinical myocarditis after getting the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Is @CDCGov doing similar prospective study in the US? Is anyone?” the Surgeon General questioned on Twitter.

Christina Pushaw, the Rapid Response Director for the DeSantis campaign, reminded followers on social media that mandating the COVID-19 vaccine is already illegal in Florida: “Fortunately, [Gov. Ron DeSantis] already signed laws to ban these mandates in Florida back in November 2021.”

“Last year, he predicted the possible threat of covid shot mandates for school & enacted laws to protect kids / parents’ rights. Therefore, any CDC vote changes nothing in FL,” she said Wednesday.