FL Surgeon General: Parents Have Trouble Finding Pediatricians If They ‘Deviate at All from the CDC Vaccine Schedule’

Some parents in Florida are having trouble finding pediatricians if they choose to “deviate at all from the vaccine schedule,” Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said.

Ladapo — who has championed personal choice when it comes to vaccines and defended parents from forced coronavirus jabs for their children during the pandemic — stated that many parents now find themselves in a bad position, as many pediatricians will not see their children if they deviate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) childhood vaccine schedule.

“We here in the Department of Health so often about certain themes — and one of those themes,” he said, “is moms and dads who are having trouble finding a pediatrician because in their area, the pediatricians will not see their kid if they deviate at all from the vaccine schedule issued by the CDC.”

“And we are in a new era. There are more people now asking questions about what’s really best for my kid after the last few years there are way more parents,” he said, noting that most of these parents are not even completely anti-vaccine… many of them simply disagree with the timing and would like the vaccines more spaced out.

“Most of these parents aren’t even parents that don’t want any vaccines for their kids. That’s the minority of the parents. Most of them are parents who just don’t feel like it’s appropriate, it’s in the best interest for their kid to get, you know, four vaccines in one visit, which is part of the CDC schedule,” he explained.

“And there are pediatric practices, I can tell you … they will not even entertain deviations. So parents who just want to spread their vaccines out because they think that’s what’s in the best interest for their kid, and I find that very sympathetic,” Ladapo continued, explaining that many of these parents are forced to pay out of pocket to see a doctor that will respect their preferences.

“Some of them have to travel far. One of the senators we met with shared the story of a close family member of his who actually has to travel … because this particular mom just wants to spread out the vaccines or has some preferences that aren’t in line with the CDC’s,” he said. “… [P]eople are having to sometimes do extraordinary things because they’re trying to do what they think is best for their kids.”

“So I think it’s important for those people to be able to have access. Senator Davis quoted a part of the Hippocratic oath, which says words that are about respecting and thinking about and caring about your patient,” he continued, noting that it is not about “just steamrolling their preferences because you think that something else is a better idea.”

“Parents have a right. That’s what it means to be a patient. That’s what it means to be in a patient-physician relationship,” he said.

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Currently, the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule lists at least a dozen vaccines for children from birth to 15 months alone, and some of those vaccines are more than one dose. By four months old, they have already received their second dose for hepatitis B, rotavirus (RV), diphtheria, tetanus, & acellular pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal conjugate, and inactivated poliovirus, per the official schedule.

The CDC recommends a dose of the coronavirus vaccine as early as 6 months old.

Ladapo’s plea coincides with reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly considering removing the coronavirus vaccine from the childhood vaccine schedule. However, that has remained the case in Florida, where Ladapo promised parents would not be pressured: