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HomeHealthGovernor DeSantis hosts discussion about COVID boosters with State Surgeon General and health experts

Governor DeSantis hosts discussion about COVID boosters with State Surgeon General and health experts

September 13, 2023

Press release from the Office of Governor Ron DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis held a discussion with State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and public health experts about the recently federally approved COVID-19 mRNA boosters. While there, the Surgeon General announced new COVID-19 booster guidance advising against the use of COVID-19 boosters for individuals under the age of 65. This recommendation was based on the fact that the newly FDA-approved COVID-19 boosters lack a human clinical trial and evidence of benefit or efficacy. The federal government has spent more than $30 billion on COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, which have shown little to no benefit to prevent COVID-19 infection. For more information about Florida’s new guidance, click here.

View the discussion here.

“I will not stand by and let the FDA and CDC use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster shots that have not been proven to be safe or effective,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Once again, Florida is the first state in the nation to stand up and provide guidance based on truth, not Washington edicts.”

“Once again, the federal government is failing Americans by refusing to be honest about the risks and not providing sufficient clinical evidence when it comes to these COVID-19 mRNA shots, especially with how widespread immunity is now,” said State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo. “In Florida, we will always use common sense and protect the rights and liberties of Floridians, including the right to accurate information.”

Today’s announcement builds on actions taken by the DeSantis administration to push back on the FDA and CDC’s rushed approval and mandates of COVID-19 vaccines since 2020, even when the evidence doesn’t line up.

In May of 2023, Governor DeSantis signed legislation codifying permanent COVID-19 protections in the state and positioned Florida as the national leader for medical freedom:

  • Permanently prohibited COVID-19 vaccine passports in Florida;
  • Permanently prohibited COVID-19 vaccine and mask requirements in all Florida schools;
  • Permanently prohibited COVID-19 masking requirements at businesses; and
  • Permanently prohibited employers from hiring or firing based on mRNA jabs. 

In 2021, Governor DeSantis signed legislation to protect Florida jobs and parents’ rights to make health care decisions for their students and banned private employer vaccine mandates and mask mandates across the state. Governor DeSantis continues to safeguard Floridians’ freedoms and ensure no one is discriminated against based on their COVID-19 vaccine status or is subject to a two-tiered test and mask discrimination policy from employers.

Governor DeSantis remains committed to ensuring COVID-19 freedoms are upheld in Florida and will fight against local governments, businesses, and corporations that attempt to impose authoritarian policies surrounding COVID.

  • This is completely a joke.
    Get your vaccine and be a decent citizen.
    I will not vote for DeSantis because of this BS.
    Donald Trump’s crowning achievement was these vaccines.
    Desantis is just playing politics and it is obvious.
    UF should be ashamed.

    • If you are naive enough to continue injecting this stuff then please continue on. But please leave the rest of us out of your addiction. It is essentially the common cold and flu so grow up and move on with life.

    • UF shouldn’t be too ashamed, but we should as tax payers. I’ve heard he’s been to campus three times since he’s been hired as full time faculty. Over $400k a year in tax dollars to pay his never ending vacation leave.

      • Sounds about like the attendance of some local government workers since Covid was declared a pandemic.

    • John Q — this is why so many former Trump voters have a major issue with him. Your statement is not making the point that you thought it may. Warp Speed Donnie failed America just as Geriatric Joe is current doing. At least DeSantis seems to be standing up against the tyrants but his legacy and true intentions still remain unknown.

    • No facts here. Just be a decent little sheep and do what the unscientific government (senile Biden in this case) tells you to do. In Florida at least, you have the freedom to choose to get the shot if you want to; you are not illegally ordered by the government to do so.

      BTW, don’t call it a vaccine; it neither keeps you from getting Covid, nor does it keep you from spreading Covid. In fact, kind of useless.

    • Can it really be called a “vaccine” if it doesn’t provide immunity or prevent spread?

    • So you’re saying that we (at least healthy people under the age of 65) should disregard the lack of human clinical trial and lack of evidence of the benefits or efficacy of the new Covid vaccine, which have shown little to no benefit to prevent COVID-19 infection? ….and just trust the federal government?
      If so, that’s the blind leading the blind…. Which we all know they both fall in a ditch.

  • Keeping Florida Free! I’m so grateful for these honorable men who are protecting our liberties and informing us of the true known risks and benefits so we can make these medical decisions for ourselves and our children.

  • So, if the rationale for discouraging those under 65 from getting the booster is because the boosters “lack a human clinical trial and evidence of benefit or efficacy,” why doesn’t that same “logic” apply to those over 65? Never forget that this is the same Governor that locked down Florida for 6 months back in 2020.

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