Florida recommends against COVID vaccines for kids

STORY: In announcing the move during a part-virtual news briefing convened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the state's surgeon general Dr. Joseph Lapado cited studies that showed few COVID fatalities among healthy children and elevated risk among young boys receiving the vaccine of side effects such as myocarditis.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in January found that the vaccine was 91% effective in preventing rare but often serious conditions in children that causes organ inflammation weeks after COVID-19 infections called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children in 12-18-year-olds.

The CDC has strongly recommended that parents have children over the age of 5 inoculated, despite a sharp decline in infections and hospitalisations nationwide since a winter peak in January and evidence that it has been less effective against the Omicron variant.

"It's deeply disturbing that there are politicians peddling conspiracy theories out there and casting doubt on vaccinations when is our best tool against the virus and the best tool to prevent even teenagers from being hospitalised," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in response to Lapado's comments.

DeSantis, a Republican often named as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has often sparred with Biden, a Democrat, over COVID mandates and restrictions.