- Gov. Ron DeSantis has confirmed that Florida will not order COVID vaccines for children under 5.
- But doctors, hospitals and community centers can still order them.
- Biden’s White House said parents in Florida would find it harder to find vaccines than in other states.
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MIAMI – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed Thursday that the state will not order vaccines against COVID-19 for young children after a panel of the Food and Drug Administration unanimously approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for babies and children under 5.
“There will be no government programs trying to get COVID to hit babies, young children and newborns,” the Republican governor said in response to a question at a Miami press conference on conserving the Everglades. “This is not something we think is appropriate, so we will not use our resources there.”
The Sunshine State decision means that parents in Florida will have more difficult access to vaccines for their children than people in other states, said Karin Jean-Pierre, a White House spokeswoman.
But neither Florida health officials nor the White House could say whether the delay would be a matter of days, weeks or even months. Some pharmacies and public health centers in Florida will still receive the vaccines directly without passing through the state, although pharmacies will only vaccinate children as young as 3 years old.
“As the only state not to pre-order, pediatricians in Florida, for example, will not have immediate access to vaccines,” Jean-Pierre said during a briefing at the White House on Thursday. “Some pharmacies and public health centers in the state have access through federal distribution channels, but these options are limited to parents.
Every state other than Florida has pre-ordered the vaccine for children under 5, the Miami Herald said for the first time. The FDA has not yet approved emergency injections for children under 5, but a green light is expected this weekend after a review by a panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The vaccines are expected to be released immediately on Monday for pre-registration.
Florida has opposed federal guidelines several times before
The Florida Department of Health has recommended in March that the COVID vaccine not be given to healthy children ages 5 to 17, contrary to federal guidelines. Instead, the state said children with major diseases were “the best candidates” for the vaccine.
But an independent group of experts advising the FDA said Wednesday that two doses of Moderna and Pfizer tridoses were safe, effective and useful for children under 6 months of age.
Elderly age is one of the biggest risk factors for serious complications or death from COVID-19, although CDC data show that 482 children under the age of 4 died of COVID in the United States. The total number appears to affect both contributing and underlying causes of death.
Responding to questions from Insider, the Florida Department of Health said it had “made it clear to the federal government that states do not need to be involved in the complex process of distributing vaccines.” It also says that Florida’s decision not to participate should come as no surprise, given that the department does not recommend photos for children.
“Doctors can order vaccines if they need to, and there are currently no orders in the COVID-19 vaccine department’s order system for this age group,” the department said in an email that did not include a name.
Chief State Surgeon Joseph Ladapo, appointed by DeSantis, heads the health department and is skeptical of vaccines. He told reporters on Tuesday that he would not recommend vaccines for children under 5.
DeSantis told a news conference Thursday that people would have options to access the vaccine, stressing that the state’s anti-vaccination guidelines should not be seen as a ban.
“The state’s recommendation is in force: This is a recommendation not to do so,” DeSantis said on Thursday. “It’s different from saying you can’t. You’re free to choose.”
Even before Ladapo took office, DeSantis has long opposed federal pandemic guidelines. He banned schools and workplaces from forcing workers to be vaccinated as a condition of work and forcing children to wear masks. Florida government officials also recently threatened the Special Olympics to relinquish their mandate for a vaccine against COVID-19 or otherwise face a $ 27.5 million fine.
The action was met with a backlash from the Biden administration, although the CDC has since eased its guidelines for school masks. The Supreme Court overturned the Biden administration’s order to vaccinate or otherwise test workers weekly in large companies, but allowed healthcare employers to require vaccinations.
In a statement, the Florida Democratic Party criticized the DeSantis administration for its latest decision not to order vaccines for young children.
“It’s one thing for Ron DeSantis and Joseph Ladapo to choose not to vaccinate their own children, but to deprive parents in Florida of that opportunity is not only irresponsible, but also cruel,” said spokeswoman Kobe Christian. “Ron DeSantis must stop using child safety as a political support and provide the vaccine as soon as possible.”
Children under the age of 5 are the last group of people eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, as pharmaceutical companies conduct tests and seek approval from government regulators. Vaccines for children 5 and older are available from early November.
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