Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said Monday that the state will formally recommend against COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children.
Ladapo made the announcement at a roundtable event organized by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that featured a group of doctors who criticized coronavirus lockdowns and mandate policies. It was not immediately clear when the state would release its health guidance.
"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 the roundtable discussion.
"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 even potential of benefit," he added.
The move was Florida's latest break from White House coronavirus policy, as U.S. health officials and approved of and encourage the use of a COVID-19 vaccine in children as young as five years of age. Vaccines have not been authorized for children under five.
DeSantis, who is running for reelection and is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has risen to prominence in the GOP through his resistance to vaccine mandates and other public health guidance pushed by the federal government.
Late last month, Ladapo and DeSantis announced new policy recommendations that discouraged mask-wearing and directed physicians to exercise their own judgment when treating virus patients, including the use of emerging treatments and off-label medications.
The Florida state Senate confirmed Ladapo as surgeon general this year despite criticism that his virus health policy is too aligned with the politics of DeSantis.
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Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
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The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
A Manitoba mother is praising firefighters for their quick work in helping her daughter who got stuck at a playground in Lorette, Man.
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
A one-page contract for the purchase of a B.C. home that was handwritten in Chinese has been deemed valid in the province's Supreme Court, leaving the would-be buyer on the hook for more than $400,000.
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A family trip took a frightening turn for Christopher Won when he was diagnosed with flesh-eating disease while in Hong Kong and now, after weeks of treatment overseas, the Vancouver firefighter is back home recovering.
Two mayoral candidates in Mexico were found dead Friday, bringing to 17 the number of contenders slain in the lead-up to the June 2 election.
Some 800,000 people in a Sudanese city are in 'extreme and immediate danger' as worsening violence advances and threatens to "unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur," top UN officials warned the Security Council on Friday.
Israel and Iran on Friday both played down an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran, signalling the two bitter enemies are ready to prevent their latest eruption of violence from escalating into a full-blown regional war.
New York lawmakers are proposing rules to humanely drive down the population of rats and other rodents, eyeing contraception and a ban on glue traps as alternatives to poison or a slow, brutal death.
A full jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, setting the stage for opening statements next week in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.
Canada's premiers are warning the federal government not to overreach into their jurisdictions when it comes to delivering the programs laid out in Ottawa's latest budget.
Canada called for 'all parties' to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
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Dengue cases are surging in the Americas, with cases reported topping 5.2 million as of this week, surpassing a yearly record set in 2023, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
Olympic organizers unveiled their strategy Friday to use artificial intelligence in sports, joining the global rush to capitalize on the rapidly advancing technology.
An ancient giant snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a tonne, researchers reported Thursday.
New archeological investigations in Guatemala reveal that the ancient Maya people had a ritual of burning royal human remains as a public display of political regime change.
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During a guest appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live,' Nick Offerman told a story from years ago he said his parents didn't know: he once spent a night in jail.
On Friday, the pop star released her 11th album and at 2 a.m. Eastern, she released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," featuring 15 additional songs.
Lululemon Athletica will close its distribution centre in the state of Washington at the end of the year and lay off more than 100 employees, the apparel retailer told Reuters on Friday.
Netflix shares fell on Friday, as its surprise move to stop sharing subscriber additions and average revenue per member from 2025 sowed doubts in investor minds about growth peaking in some markets for the streaming pioneer.
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
A GoFundMe campaign for a Moncton drummer has raised around $49,500 in just a few weeks.
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Saturday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal-weed states thank their customers with discounts.
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.
The Winnipeg Jets will face the Colorado Avalanche for the first time ever in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
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Tesla is recalling 3,878 of its 2024 Cybertrucks after it discovered that the accelerator pedal can become stuck, potentially causing the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally and increase the risk of a crash.
A driver from London will have to find alternative transportation after an OPP officer clocked them travelling nearly 200 km/h on Highway 401 over the weekend.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
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Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
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Gary Crossman, New Brunswick’s minister of environment and climate change, is resigning from Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservative cabinet immediately.
Mrs. Mikes shut down last year after a half-century of serving the community. Now its doors have reopened and Winnipeggers were lined up to get their fill, even as snow fell on them.
Tiber River, a shop that sells natural body care products, is ceasing operations.
A Manitoba mother is praising firefighters for their quick work in helping her daughter who got stuck at a playground in Lorette, Man.
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A Canadian Hall of Fame golfer from Kitchener is finally getting recognition for starting the skip-shot tradition at The Masters.
Two Kitchener-Waterloo music organizations have placed an employee on a leave of absence after he was charged in a historical sexual assault investigation.
A Saskatoon Provincial Court judge will determine whether testimony from a woman, charged with impaired driving causing the death of a child, will be used as evidence in her trial.
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
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A flood warning was issued Friday for the Lake Nipissing shoreline in North Bay, Callander and the Parks Creek watershed.
‘Onto Adelaide and just zip down’: Cars no longer have to deal with trains on Adelaide Street North, near Central Avenue.
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A city councillor said she’s concerned the city is encouraging homeless encampments rather than finding more permanent solutions.
One person has been charged following a collision on Highway 400 in Barrie Friday morning that sent a vehicle rolling into a ditch.
The first provincial pharmacist care walk-in clinic has opened at the Rexall in the north end of Barrie to provide more immediate care for minor illnesses and chronic care in a more private setting.
Police are hoping to identify the person(s) who allegedly broke into a Barrie home and caused extensive water damage.
A Windsor man convicted in a violent murder 20 years ago awaits ruling on bid for early parole.
Windsor police have charged a 21-year-old man with stunt driving following a collision at a commercial property.
Windsor photographer and director Syx Langemann is hosting a free Record Store Day screening of his new docuseries ‘Spinning Stories’ that explores the recent resurgence in vinyl records.
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
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In Colwood, B.C., there are 35 residential homes in the tsunami inundation zone.
A banana ball python that was stolen from a Kelowna pet store on Saturday has been returned unharmed, Mounties said.
Nurses held a rally Wednesday at a hospital in the B.C. Interior that closed its emergency department more than a dozen times last year due to insufficient staff.
British Columbia is planning to add 240 new units to its complex-care housing program, providing homes for people with mental-health and addictions challenges that overlap with other serious conditions.
The province has announced the largest water sharing agreement in Alberta’s history, which will see Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, among other municipalities, cut water use.
Mounties say a 32-year-old Medicine Hat woman has been charged in connection with the theft of $60,000 from the Redcliff Legion.
Three men who helped lead and co-ordinate the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta., have been found guilty of public mischief.
A Sault Ste. Marie-based support group for women is hoping to work with other groups to provide more inclusive services.
The war of words between the presidents of Sault College and Conestoga College has escalated into a legal battle.
A 43-year-old has been charged in Sault Ste. Marie after police recorded a vehicle being driven at 113 km/h, nearly double the posted speed limit.
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
A Celebrity Apex cruise to the Caribbean this month turned into a rocking Newfoundland kitchen party when hundreds of people from Canada's easternmost province happened to be booked on the same ship.
A pricing agreement has been reached between crab fishers and seafood processors that will allow for Newfoundland and Labrador's annual crab fishery to get started.
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