Reuters
Published Mar 07, 2022 05:33PM ET
Updated Mar 08, 2022 02:50AM ET
By Dan Whitcomb
(Reuters) - Florida's top health official said on Monday the state would recommend against the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children, breaking with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In announcing the move during press briefing convened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the state's surgeon general Dr. Joseph Lapado cited studies that showed few COVID fatalities among healthy children and elevated risk among young boys receiving the vaccine of side effects such as myocarditis.
"The Florida Department of Health is going to be first state to officially recommend against the use of COVID 19 vaccines for healthy children," Lapado said during the more than 90-minute panel discussion.
Last week, a study based on New York state health records suggested that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was less effective at preventing infection in children aged 5 to 11 than in older kids but still cut hospitalizations by about 50%.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in January found that the vaccine was 91% effective in preventing rare but often serious conditions in children that causes organ inflammation weeks after COVID-19 infections called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children in 12-18 year olds.
The CDC has strongly recommended that parents have children over the age of 5 inoculated, despite a sharp decline in infections and hospitalizations nationwide since a winter peak in January and evidence that it has been less effective against the Omicron variant.
"It's deeply disturbing that there are politicians peddling conspiracy theories out there and casting doubt on vaccinations when is our best tool against the virus and the best tool to prevent even teenagers from being hospitalized," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in response to Lapado's comments.
DeSantis, a Republican often named as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has often sparred with Biden, a Democrat, over COVID mandates and restrictions.
The CDC referred Reuters to their existing recommendation.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.