![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/6502132e9a51d.image_.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nContinuing a long-running clash with federal health officials, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration on Wednesday recommended that people under age 65 not receive newly approved COVID-19 booster shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo issued guidance that was dramatically different from a recommendation Tuesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said people 6 months old and older should receive updated COVID-19 vaccines. The CDC recommendation came a day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of vaccines that it said are \u201cformulated to more closely target currently circulating variants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida Department of Health guidance, however, said \u201cthe most recent booster approval was granted in the absence of any meaningful booster-specific clinical trial data performed in humans.\u201d It also contended that the \u201cfederal government has failed to provide sufficient data to support the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBased on the high rate of global immunity and currently available data, the State Surgeon General recommends against the COVID-19 booster for individuals under 65,\u201d the guidance said. \u201cIndividuals 65 and older should discuss this information with their health care provider, including potential concerns outlined in this guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ladapo, who appeared Wednesday with DeSantis to discuss the issue and heads the Department of Health, has become a nationally prominent skeptic of COVID-19 vaccines and federal policies dealing with the pandemic. DeSantis also has made opposition to such measures as mask requirements and lockdowns a signature political issue as he runs for president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But federal officials are touting the updated vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that are expected to become available this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe FDA is confident in the safety and effectiveness of these updated vaccines, and the agency\u2019s benefit-risk assessment demonstrates that the benefits of these vaccines for individuals 6 months of age and older outweigh the risks,\u201d the FDA said Monday in information posted on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CDC said Tuesday that vaccination is the best way to prevent against COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths and to help people reduce chances of suffering from what is known as \u201clong COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe virus that causes COVID-19 is always changing, and protection from COVID-19 vaccines declines over time,\u201d the CDC said on its website. \u201cReceiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine can restore protection and provide enhanced protection against the variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of Aug. 31, the most-recent data available, a reported 90,232 Florida residents had died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started in 2020, according to the state Department of Health. Nearly 78 percent of those deaths involved people age 65 or older.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Jim Saunders – The News Service of Florida Continuing a long-running clash with federal health officials, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration on Wednesday recommended that people under age 65 not receive… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[5958],"class_list":["post-35718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-world-news","tag-state-takes-aim-at-new-covid-booster"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}