Florida Surgeon General Ladapo contradicts feds, recommends against mRNA COVID shots

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo took the extraordinary step Wednesday of "calling for a halt to the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines," a move that contradicts federal health authorities and again makes Florida an outlier.

Ladapo said in a statement released by the Florida Department of Health that he raised questions about the safety of the vaccines with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and they did not provide an adequate response. As a result, he said, he is now recommending against their use.

The FDA's response to Ladapo, dated last month, rebutted each of his concerns and warns that vaccine "misinformation and disinformation" will result in fewer people getting vaccinated, which contributes to the "continued death and serious illness toll of COVID-19."

A favorite of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ladapo is a controversial figure who repeatedly has criticized COVID-19 vaccines and issued increasingly stringent recommendations urging various populations not to get them, despite assurances by federal authorities they are safe.

In 2022, Ladapo made Florida the first state in the nation to recommend against healthy children receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. Then last year he recommended against anyone under the age of 65 getting new COVID vaccine boosters.

Ladapo's latest recommendation is his most drastic yet, targeting some of the most popular vaccines such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna. Ladapo's letter to the FDA raises concerns about "the risks of contaminant DNA integration into human DNA" through the messenger RNA vaccine and "the integrity of the human genome.”

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is a molecule that delivers genetic information from DNA to proteins. DNA "is the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism," according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Vaccines do not alter DNA, feds say

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says mRNA vaccines do not alter an individual's DNA: "None of the COVID-19 vaccines affect or interact with our DNA."

The FDA letter responding to Ladapo says, "We would like to make clear that based on a thorough assessment of the entire manufacturing process, FDA is confident in the quality, safety, and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines."

It continues, "The agency’s benefit-risk assessment and ongoing safety surveillance demonstrate that the benefits of their use outweigh their risks. Additionally, with over a billion doses of the mRNA vaccines administered, no safety concerns related to residual DNA have been identified."

Ladapo has joined DeSantis on the presidential campaign trail and held various events with the governor in which scientists and medical professionals with contrarian COVID-19 views have criticized federal health authorities' management of the pandemic.

In 2023, when he advised against young men getting the mRNA vaccines, a task force of University of Florida medical school doctors concluded he was "cherry picking results," ignoring evidence that contradicted his bias and focusing on "exceptionally small event rates that distort magnitude of risk and do not consider magnitude of benefit."

According to a Health Department spokesman, Ladapo stood by his work.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Joseph Ladapo: FL Surgeon General wants halt to mRNA COVID vaccines