Florida First State to Recommend Against COVID-19 Boosters for People Under 65

Florida will be the first state in the country to recommend against COVID-19 boosters for people under 65 years old.

“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 at a roundtable today on COVID-19 boosters. “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.”

Last week, Ladapo warned of the potential dangers of the new COVID-19 booster, including risk of cardiac injury.

"There has been no clinical trial done in human beings showing that it benefits people," said Ladapo. "There has been no clinical trial showing it is a safe product for people."

Ladapo announced new COVID-19 booster guidance advising against the use of COVID boosters for individuals under the age of 65. This recommendation was based on the fact that the newly FDA approved COVID 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.

Also today, former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams posted his support for boosters for "Long COVID".

"Vaccination [decreases] long covid, AND [decreases] chance of infection for 2-3 months (which matters a LOT during a surge)," posted Adams, who served as Surgeon General under President Donald Trump.

In May of 2023, Governor DeSantis signed permanent protections against forced masking and vaccine mandates in Florida, which includes schools and private businesses. He also signed a law permanently prohibiting vaccine passports or employer discrimination based on mRNA vaccine status.

"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," according to a statement from the Governor's office.