Banning mRNA COVID vaccine is 'the goal,' Florida surgeon general says

Kirby Wilson, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 15, 2025

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Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo says he does not want mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to be available in Florida.

In a podcast interview published Sunday, Ladapo was asked about the state’s announcement this month that officials intended to end all vaccine mandates. He said the controversy over the announcement was overblown because vaccines would continue to be available to those who want them — with one potential exception.

“The goal with the mRNA is for that not to be available to anyone, because no one should be using that one,” Ladapo said, in an apparent reference to the COVID-19 shots.

The statement is the latest in a series of harsh criticisms of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines from Florida’s top medical official. In January 2024, the Florida Department of Health recommended against the use of those vaccines, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not proven them to be safe.

In 2022, Ladapo urged young men not to get the mRNA COVID shots, citing a state report that claimed the vaccine elevated the risk of cardiac-related death for some age groups. That recommendation was made despite the state having contradictory data that showed catching COVID-19 could increase the chances of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the vaccine, the Tampa Bay Times reported in 2023.

Various studies published in medical journals have found that the COVID-19 vaccinations have likely saved millions of lives. The mRNA shots are different from traditional vaccines because they work by giving the body instructions about how to make a pathogen the immune system can then recognize and fight off, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Traditional vaccines involve injecting a bit of the pathogen itself.

Ladapo was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021.

Ladapo’s comments came in a podcast interview with Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a Houston physician who, like Ladapo, has raised doubts about the effectiveness of the COVID shots.

In Florida, there is significant confusion about the extent to which COVID-19 shots will be available for the fall flu season. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated shots, but only for those over 65 or those 6 months and older with a high-risk condition.

Some pharmacies in Florida are still carrying the shots but are asking patients to get a prescription to obtain them. Some are not carrying the shots at all while pharmacists await further guidance this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s unclear what steps, if any, Ladapo’s agency will take to reduce access to mRNA COVID-19 shots. The Florida Department of Health did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Ladapo said the feedback he’s gotten on the state’s announcement on ending vaccine mandates has been the “most intense” of any of his news-making decisions as surgeon general. For this, he blamed others in the public health community, as well as the news media.

He stopped short of recommending that Floridians get their children vaccinated.

“People want to get vaccines, that’s perfectly fine,” Ladapo said. But he disputed the notion “that somehow civilization can’t continue without them.”

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Times staff writer Teghan Simonton contributed to this report.

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