NEW FLORIDA SURGEON GENERAL ON COVID: ‘WE’RE DONE WITH FEAR’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named a UCLA doctor and health policy researcher who shares his approach to managing the coronavirus pandemic to serve as the state’s surgeon general Tuesday.
Like DeSantis, Dr. Jospeh Ladapo said he doesn’t believe in school closures, lockdowns or vaccine mandates.
“Florida will completely reject fear as a way of making policies in public health. So we’re done with fear,” Ladapo said. “That’s been something that’s been, unfortunately, a centerpiece of health policy in the United States ever since the beginning of the pandemic and it’s over here. Expiration date. It’s done.”
He said approaching health policy with fear leads to bad decisions.
“We’re going to be very explicit about the differences between the science and our opinions,” he said. “What’s been happening over the past year is that people have been taking the science and they’ve been mispresenting it … it’s been unclear when the discussion about science ends and discussion about how you feel about the science and what you want people to do with the science begins.”
