COVID Vaccine is ‘Anti-Human’ and ‘Insult to Humanity’, Florida Surgeon General Says

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo M.D. had scathing words for the new class of COVID-19 vaccines this week.

In a conversation with Fox Digital, Dr. Ladapo once again made it clear that he does not recommend the new class of shots, but went a step further than his usual critiques of the vaccine.

“One of the studies I believe was performed in the Cleveland Clinic [is] showing evidence of negative effectiveness of increased risk of infection [for people who receive the vaccine]” he said. “A phenomenon or reaction that we do not understand. And you're pushing the product on human beings.”

It is unclear what Cleveland Clinic study Dr. Ladapo is referring to. The Messenger reached out to both the Florida Department of Health and the Cleveland Clinic for comment.

“That is an anti-human approach as an anti-human policy,” he continued.

This is not the first controversial statement from the doctor, who was appointed to his role by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021, about vaccines. Last month, he recommended against healthy Floridians receiving the vaccine, bucking recommendations from leading health officials.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have approved both Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 boosters for the upcoming flu season, determining them to be safe and effective. The FDA also approved a new booster from Novavax this week.

“There's so many reasons to say pause at this point. And, you know, instead the CDC and FDA are saying full steam ahead,” Dr. Ladapo continued. “The problem with considering these mRNA COVID-19 vaccines [Pfizer and Moderna’s] for any populations right now, is that there's no clinical evidence for that. That's a major problem.” 

“I don't want to feel comfortable at this point after the pandemic recommending it to any living being on this planet,” he added. “... this is really an insult to humanity to be pushing this medication on them.”

Dr. Ladapo is referring to a lack of clinical trials for the vaccines ahead of their recent approval. While the original COVID vaccines — which rolled out at the end of 2021 — and the first sets of boosters were subject to clinical trials, these shots were instead approved based off of antibody tests.

Unlike clinical trials, where recipients of the shots are tracked for a period of months and compared to a group who only received a placebo, the new set of vaccines were instead gauged by their ability to generate virus-fighting antibodies.

While some have criticized the FDA for not undergoing full-scale clinical trials, Dr. Paul Offit, who oversees vaccine education at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital and advises the FDA, told The Messenger that this streamlined process is likely safe. It is similar to how the agency approves annual flu shots.