ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — U.S. health agencies have sent a letter to Florida’s surgeon general warning him that his claims about the risks of the COVID-19 vaccine are harmful to the public.
The letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was sent Friday to the surgeon Florida General Joseph Ladapo. It was in response to a letter Ladapo wrote last month expressing concerns about what he described as the adverse effects of covid-19 mRNA vaccines.
Ladapo was appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 and has drawn national scrutiny for his close alignment with the governor in opposing COVID vaccine mandates and other health policies adopted by the federal government.
Last year, Ladapo published guidelines recommending that healthy children not be vaccinated against COVID-19, contradicting public health leaders who advise that all children be vaccinated.
It has also recommended that men between the ages of 18 and 39 not receive the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, stating that an analysis by the Florida Department of Health showed an 84% increase in deaths related to heart problems.
In the letter, the federal agencies disputed the conclusion of the analysis, saying that cardiovascular experts who studied the issue concluded that the risk of strokes and heart attacks was lower in people who had been vaccinated, not higher.
More than 13 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide with little evidence of adverse effects, according to federal health agencies.
“It is the job of the country’s public health authorities to protect the lives of the populations they serve, especially the vulnerable. Feeding doubt about vaccines undermines this effort,” says the letter signed by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
The Florida Department of Health did not respond to a question about the emailed letter on Saturday.
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