尽管美国最高卫生官员广泛支持儿科新冠肺炎疫苗接种，但佛罗里达州医务总监约瑟夫·a·拉达波博士(Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo)周一宣布，佛罗里达州将成为美国第一个反对健康儿童接种新冠肺炎疫苗的州。
“佛罗里达州卫生部将成为第一个正式建议健康儿童接种新冠肺炎疫苗的州，”拉达波在佛罗里达州西棕榈滩举行的90分钟圆桌讨论结束时表示，该讨论由州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯主持，旨在彻底关闭“科维德剧院”
就在宣布之前，拉达波和一群医生提出，新冠肺炎疫苗对儿童可能没有必要。
乔·卡瓦雷塔/太阳哨兵报/论坛报新闻社
佛罗里达州医务总监约瑟夫·拉达布和州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯在2004年的新闻发布会上...
拉达普指着一个研究上周在纽约发布，表明新的数据显示，与年龄更大的儿童相比，辉瑞的新冠肺炎疫苗保护在5至11岁的儿童中相对较快地减弱。
“利率已经很低了。所以，我们在某种程度上还在摸索，特别是对于健康的孩子，在实际上能够以任何准确性和任何信心量化这种益处的无限潜力方面，”拉达普周一说。
虽然这项尚未经过同行评审的研究表明，相对于年龄较大的儿童，幼儿的免疫力下降得更快，但研究人员表示，疫苗仍然大大降低了住院的风险。
科学家们还表示，研究针对幼儿的“替代”疫苗剂量以提高效力可能很重要。
声明发布后，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基告诉记者，佛罗里达州的决定“绝对不是”一个好政策。
“我只想指出，我们知道科学。普萨基在周一的新闻发布会上说:“我们知道数据，知道什么是有效的，什么是最有效的，什么是最有效的措施，可以保护各种年龄的人免于住院甚至死亡。”
“令人深感不安的是，有政客兜售阴谋论，并对疫苗产生怀疑，而疫苗是我们对抗病毒的最佳工具，也是防止青少年住院的最佳工具，”她补充说。
全国各地的许多健康专家也强烈反对疫苗可能对儿童没有必要的说法，强调疫苗对所有符合条件的儿童预防严重疾病的重要性。
美国疾病控制和预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)和美国儿科学会(American Academy of Pediatrics，AAP)也公开表示支持儿童接种新冠肺炎疫苗，并向家长强调，现实世界的数据已经证明，疫苗在保护儿童免受严重疾病以及病毒的潜在长期后果方面是安全有效的。
AAP的医生在上个月的一份政策声明中写道:“疫苗在保护个人和群体免受传染病感染方面是安全有效的。”。
德桑蒂斯还质疑儿童是否应该接种疫苗，吹捧该州最近禁止在学校强制接种疫苗的努力。
“我们在儿童新冠肺炎疫苗接种方面存在这个问题。在佛罗里达州，我们禁止强制儿童接种COVID疫苗，因此他们可以上学，这是家长的决定，”DeSantis说。“很多家长找到我，他们只是说，‘是的，谢谢你没有强制要求，我们想自己做决定’，但他们对自己是否应该这样做有着复杂的感情，即使这是他们的选择。”
根据AAP和儿童医院协会收集的数据，自疫情爆发以来，超过1260万美国儿童的新冠肺炎病毒检测呈阳性。此外，联邦数据显示，在全国范围内，超过115，000名新冠肺炎阳性儿童被医院收治，而超过1，500名儿童因病毒而丧生。
除了州长，拉达波一直直言不讳地表达他的立场，即结束新冠肺炎的缓和措施，以努力促进个人自由。
上个月，两人宣布，该州将建议不要使用面部覆盖物来预防新冠肺炎。
DeSantis aide bucks medical consensus that healthy children should get COVID vaccine.
Despite widespread support for pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations from the nation's top health officials, Florida will become the first state in the country to advise against vaccinating healthy children for COVID-19, the state's Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, announced on Monday.
"The Florida Department of Health is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children," Ladapo said at the end of a 90-minute roundtable discussion in West Palm Beach, Florida, hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis, aimed to close the curtain on the "COVID theater once and for all."
Just prior to the announcement, Ladapo, alongside a group of physicians, made the case that the COVID-19 vaccines may not be necessary in children.
Ladapo pointed to astudyreleased last week out of New York, suggesting that new data showed that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine protection waned relatively quickly in children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old, as compared to older children.
"Already the rates were low. So, we're kind of scraping at the bottom of the barrel particularly with healthy kids, in terms of actually being able to quantify with any accuracy and any confidence, the infinite potential of benefit," Ladapo said Monday.
Although the study, which has not been peer-reviewed, suggested immunity waned faster in young children relative to older children, researchers said the vaccine still dramatically reduced the risk of hospitalization.
Scientists also said it might be important to study "alternative" vaccine dosing for young children to bolster efficacy.
Following the announcement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Florida's decision was “absolutely not” a good policy.
"Let me just note that we know the science. We know the data and what works and what is the most, what the most effective steps are protecting people of a range of ages from hospitalization and even death," Psaki said during a press briefing on Monday.
"It's deeply disturbing that there are politicians peddling conspiracy theories out there and casting doubt on vaccinations, when it is our best tool against the virus and the best tool to prevent even teenagers from being hospitalized," she added.
Many health experts across the country have also vehemently pushed back on claims that vaccines may not be necessary for children, urging the importance of vaccines for all eligible children to protect against severe illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have also been vocal in their support of pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations, stressing to parents that real-world data has demonstrated that vaccines are safe and effective at protecting children against severe disease, as well as against potential long-term consequences from the virus.
"Vaccines are safe and effective in protecting individuals and populations against infectious diseases," physicians from the AAP wrote in a policy statement last month.
DeSantis also questioned whether children should be getting the shots, touting the state's recent efforts to ban vaccine mandates in schools.
"We have this issue in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations with respect to children. And in Florida, we prohibited mandating COVID vaccines for children, so they can go to school and it's a parent's decision," DeSantis said. "A lot of parents have come up to me, and they're just like, 'yeah, thanks for not mandating, we want to make the decision,' but they have mixed feelings about whether they should do that even if it is their choice."
Since the onset of the pandemic, more than 12.6 million American children have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data collected by the AAP and Children's Hospital Association. In addition, federal data shows that nationwide, more than 115,000 COVID-19 positive children have been admitted hospitals, while more than 1,500 children have lost their lives to the virus.
Alongside the Governor, Ladapo has been vocal about his stance to end COVID-19 mitigation measures in an effort to promote personal freedom.
Last month, the duo announced that the state would advise against the use of face coverings to protect against COVID-19.
