Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo urged Floridians to remember their rights to refuse vaccination.
“It’s that time of the year again when some health care facilities are adopting capricious mask and vaccine policies,” Ladapo wrote on X. “A reminder for Floridians: masks can only be mandated in very specific, clinically-appropriate circumstances, and vaccine mandates (including flu) that don’t allow for exemptions are prohibited.” He urged those experiencing issues to file a complaint.
The reminder comes as the state moved to eliminate vaccine mandates in September.
“The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law,” Ladapo said during a press conference. “All of them.”
“Every last one is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” he declared. “Who am I, as a government, or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body?”
Ladapo asserted that he does not have the right to dictate what one puts into their body. “I don’t have that right,” he said. “Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.”
“Government does not have that right,” he stated.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis supported the policy, stating that “trust has really been broken.”
“If you provide information and persuasion, that’s better than coercion,” he added.
