MIAMI — A former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, who recently announced he is entering the Florida governor’s race, criticized the surgeon general’s shift on vaccine mandates.
Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has served as Florida’s surgeon general since 2021, described the state law that provides vaccine mandates and options to opt out as “appropriate” in 2022.
5 p.m. report:
More than four years later, on Wednesday, the Nigerian-American physician’s tone changed. He used “disdain and slavery” to argue that the mandates infringe on Floridians’ personal freedom.
“I wouldn’t use that language,” said Paul Renner, the Republican 103rd Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
Without releasing details, Ladapo announced there was a plan in the works to “end all vaccine mandates in Florida law.” The crowd at the planned event cheered.
“I am still unclear on what the new proposal is since we do have those exemptions ... and parents can opt out of if they wish,” said Renner, who was in office from Nov. 22, 2022, to Nov. 19 and wants to run for Florida governor on Nov. 3, 2026.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also suggested the mandates can stay because Florida already has a system for parents to opt out because of “religious and personal beliefs.” U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a former teacher and principal, called for Ladapo’s resignation and accused him of risking lives.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also faced criticism over the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changes on vaccines during a contentious U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday.
“This is not a podcast. It’s the American people’s health that’s on the line here,” Sen. Michael Bennet, D.-Colo., told Kennedy. “This is the last thing, by the way, our parents need when their kids are going back to school is to have the kind of confusion and expense and scarcity that you are creating as the result of your ideology.”
Some Democratic state leaders reacted to the announcement.
“It’s reckless, it’s irresponsible and, once again, it’s political grandstanding,” said State Senator Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from South Florida. “My suggestion is that individuals call their elected official, their state reps and step senators, to push back against this absolute takeover of our medical system.”
“At first, when someone said it, I thought I was a joke,” said State Senator Barbara Sharief, a Democrat from South Florida.
Antonio White, the president of United Teachers of Dade, said some teachers were dealing with confusion and fear over the potential impact of the changes on their classrooms and communities.
“Immunizations have been taking place in public schools for as long as public schools have existed,” White said on Thursday.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools released a statement saying the district was waiting for “official guidance” from the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Education.
Local 10 News Reporter Liane Morejon contributed to this report.
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