When Joseph Ladapo was appointed the surgeon general in Florida in September 2021, the vaccination rate for routine injections for kindergartners was 93.3 percent. Now, it’s at 90.6 percent — the lowest it's been in over a decade. Some point to Lapado’s actions as a contributor to the decline.
For example, amid a measles outbreak in Florida, Lapado contradicted widespread medical guidance, failing to direct parents of unvaccinated children to get them their shots or keep them home. He advised not to vaccinate children against COVID-19 in 2022 and called for a halt to using mRNA vaccines for both adults and children.
