In a show of solidarity, on January 26, Democrats in the Florida House of Representatives withdrew before a vote to confirm the state’s surgeon general took place.
Democrats said the reason for the strike was that Dr. Joseph Ladapo was unable to “adequately answer questions about how he is handling the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Even though Democrats abstained from voting, Republicans unanimously moved him to the next round of Senate confirmations.
During a meeting of the Committee on Health Policy on January 26, Democratic Senator Lauren Book, the leader, pressed Ladapo for a “yes or no” answer to a question whether he believes vaccines are effective against COVID-19.
Ladapo refused to answer one way or another, based on the complexity of the issue.
“In science, it’s not easy to find yes or no questions,” he said.
“The most commonly used vaccines in the United States … have shown relatively high efficacy in preventing hospitalization and death, and relatively low protection against infection.”
Book replied, “We have two buttons to press here, Dr. Ladapo. Yes or no. Do vaccines work in preventing COVID-19? Yes or no.”
Ladapo responded that the vaccine was “sufficiently effective” in terms of hospitalization and death. He said he is “married to data” and follows them closely.
When asked about the masks, Ladapo did not support them, saying they did not have a “significant impact” on the spread of the virus.
He also wondered why Dr. Raul Pino, Chief Medical Officer of Orange County, was placed on administrative leave.
Pino was put on leave last week after he sent out an email to employees of the health department stating the department’s low vaccination rate and urging all employees to get vaccinated.
“I want to clarify that this particular position was absolutely not placed on administrative leave for any reasons that were potentially political or related to anything other than the policies we have in the Ministry of Health,” Ladapo said.
In another issue, the senators asked Ladapo if he “regrets he didn’t wear a mask” during a meeting with state senator Tina Polsky after she asked him to wear it because she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy at the time. .
Without acknowledging any regrets, he instead emphasized that he felt it was important to “respect people’s preferences”.
An exasperated Beech said after an hour of questioning, “We don’t feel like we’re getting any answers.”
“We know that today we have a long agenda with a lot of bills. Florida Senate Democrats on this committee will now abstain, leave, and come back when we have more business to do,” she said as she stood up and left with other Democrats, leaving the Republicans to vote for him through final Senate confirmation. .
Ladapo told reporters after the meeting that he thought he answered questions accurately.
“I wish them all the best,” he said. “I have no malice towards them. I hope we can work together on public health issues.”
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