Dr Joseph Ladapo, along with Governor Ron DeSantis, said they would issue guidance making Florida "the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children."

Ladapo and DeSantis attempted to justify this position by citing concerns about the potential health risks of the COVID-19 vaccine, despite multiple studies proving that it is entirely safe for children. The Centers for Disease Control urges people to get vaccinated since the virus itself poses a much larger health risk.

Ladapo did not offer any additional details on when the guidance would become official or what they would define as a "healthy" child.

The announcement came during a roundtable discussion led by DeSantis, a Republican who has been vocally against pandemic restrictions, during which the group heavily criticized the CDC and Biden administration for mask mandates and other mitigation efforts, CNN reported.

Though children are less likely to develop severe illness from COVID-19, they are still getting sick and spreading the virus. Since the beginning of January 2022, more that 4.8 million kids have tested positive for COVID-19, nearly half of all pediatric cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. And thousands were hospitalized during that period.