Florida's Surgeon General: Taking People's Jobs Away 'Bad for Health'

Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Thursday blasted the officials who have touted vaccine mandates as a way to protect the workforce. He warned job loss as a result of the mandates is “bad for health,” as it increases mental distress and often causes people to lose their health insurance, disrupting their care.

Speaking in Pinellas County Thursday, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced a special session of the legislature to create protections for Floridians facing vaccine mandates, Ladapo (pictured) described it as an “unbelievable” time in the country:

It’s almost like you wake up each day and you wonder what new unprecedented policy step some leader in unfortunately California —  a state that, you know, I lived in and really enjoyed, a beautiful state —  or even at the executive level with what the president is coming out with. we don’t know what’s coming next.

“What we’re talking about here today is really an example of just extreme policies that we’ve seen during this pandemic. And policies that are implemented without thinking about whether they make sense, or thinking about, you know, their risk to benefits and what the implications of those policies are,” he continued, explaining the choice many workers have faced when it comes to the vaccine.

Notably, during his divisive coronavirus speech last month, President Joe Biden said he aimed to “protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers” via intrusive mandates.

“We’re going to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across America,” he said at the time.

While Biden attempted to describe his action as prioritizing the health of Americans, Ladapo pointed out that forcing people to lose their jobs over the mandate is also bad for health in several ways.

“When you take away these people’s jobs, it’s bad for health, it increases mental distress. It’s bad for physical health. People often lose health insurance, so it disrupts their care. So I mean it’s bad for health on every level for these people,” he said, adding that “it matters.”

He also took specific aim at the assertions that the mandates will “create safe workplaces by mandating these vaccines,” noting that the infections “can still happen whether people are vaccinated or not.”

“That’s very obvious,” he added.

“The idea that … vaccine mandates are needed to create safe workplaces is a complete lie. It’s continued to be repeated, and you should know it’s not at all backed up by science,” he added.

Ladapo also addressed the critics of those who have still refused to get the coronavirus shot, explaining that many remain hesitant because of what he described as “the climate of dishonesty, scientific dishonesty about the science.”

“Whether it’s natural immunity —  denial of that in the face of data — or in the case of the vaccines, open honest discussions about both effectiveness and safety. So there’s been dishonesty around that,” he said, adding that there is “concerted effort” to keep certain stories, particularly those highlighting adverse reactions, at bay.

“Instead, what we see is basically shaming and smearing, you know, people using the label anti-vax, and these are the same people who went and got the vaccine. So it’s completely ridiculous,” he said, adding that people should absolutely “stick with their intuition and their sensibilities” when making these decisions.