DeSantis reverses course - great for Florida kids
 

Great news - Governor DeSantis is now allowing pediatricians and other health care providers to order doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for kids 6 months to 5 years old. Florida was the last state in the nation to do so, but I congratulate the Governor for having the courage and brains to realize his initial position was wrong. Thank you Governor DeSantis!!!

Initial position not wrong. These kids have a near zero percent chance of getting covid.

FDA has authorized, and CDC will shortly. Governor DeSantis should be applauded for realizing their scientists understand the risks/rewards better than himself, and better than I. I think Governor DeSantis is showing an open mind, the ability and agility to realize he made the wrong call for Florida kids, and reversed himself.

DeSantis turned the pediatric Covid vaccine down for the state of Florida CDC is allowing pediatrician to order it.

EDIT: News reports say DeSantis *did* change his position and Fl *is* now ordering vaccines for children.

I must be missing something. As I understood the recent announcement, it was just authorized this week and will become available next week as an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). And what is an EUA? I am not medically trained but I can read. The question is, can I understand.

What I read is:

WHAT IS AN EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION (EUA)?

In an emergency, like a pandemic, it may not be possible to have all the evidence that the FDA would usually have before approving a drug, device, or a test.

When there is a declared emergency, the FDA can make a judgment that it's worth releasing something for use even without all the evidence that would fully establish its effectiveness and safety. If there’s evidence that strongly suggests that patients have benefited from a treatment or test, the agency can issue an EUA to make it available.

I doubt if there is any large scale study as to how 6 month old's will fare with the dose which is (???? 1/2 the adult dose) that made many adults ill.

I have had both my initial shots and Booster, but understand that I can still get COVID 19. That is not what we were originally told when we got our EUA adult vaccine.

So now, we should feel confident that 1/2 an adult dose EUA is safe as an EUA for a six month old. I have no 6 mo olds as children or grand children, but I would at least contact a competent physician before signing up my child to be a lab experiment to allow the government to confirm their EUA.

Wrong, kids have a greater chance than adults of getting Covid, it passes like wildfire at day care centers. The kids do have a lower chance of getting seriously sick from Covid, but that doesn’t mean they can’t spread it to at risk adults who could otherwise be safer if the kids are vaccinated.

I didn't need to be "told" anything when I got my vaccine. But the patient information was right there for me to read for myself. And it stated clearly that the vaccine is not a guaranteed immunization. It is a risk reduction and symptom reduction. It means you are LESS LIKELY to get covid and if you get it anyway, you are LESS LIKELY to experience severe symptoms.

That's what the patient information said, and it wasn't a lie, or an untruth, or a misleading statement. It was spot on easy to read plain old American English.

In addition, DeSantis was getting a lot of flack from not only his own constituents here in Florida, but the entire country, for being the ONLY state that rejected funds from the government to provide kids with vaccines. That is why he changed his mind. He is looking at 2024, and knows he can't alienate those who might become his new "base."

It's politics, nothing more or less.

You misread my post. First, I was responding to the OPs reference to the new announcement regarding the acceptance for using the vaccine for 6 mo olds which was just made this week. Reference to Governor's acceptance being last in country to a new announcement was inappropriate since the announcement was just made.

Second , I was trying to point out that the announcement was a EUA (Emergency Use Only). Yes, I know that my vaccines were EUA as you did. That was my choice as it was yours.

The next point was just to reiterate that the current decision to use 1/2 the adult dose for 6 month olds is also an EUA decision which has not been totally explained. There is no experience of how that will work. There may be extenuating circumstance that a child may have which would warrant caution. According to EUA rules explanations are to be supplied. That is why I suggested that it be discussed with physicians before going ahead. Isn't that a prudent approach for parents?

No politics implied.

6 months old……are you kidding me….. stop the insanity

Normally that's great advice, your best information generally comes from your own physician. However, in the case of new vaccines, where do you think individual physicians get their information? I'm pretty sure any such discussion will only yield the party line that reiterates the CDC position.

I don't understand.

I thought I read on here over and over that parents have the right to choose how they want to protect their children. Masks, lockdown, whatever, it was the parents choice. Then the FDA says the vaccine is approved (EUA) and those same people are applauding DeSantis for taking away parents right to choose what treatment their children get.

DeSantis made public speeches about how he was not purchasing it for kids and he would not allow pediatricians to purchase it.

Then he got a massive backlash from the public and suddenly changed his position, a little. Parents that want it, can get it from the pediatrician.

Now, he is being applauded as being a forward thinking politicians that cares about what the parents want. ahem...

I really have no dog in the vaccine fight.
I just find it amazing, that many people base their opposition to best known medical advice, and make decisions whether to protect themselves or kids, along political lines
Funny old world!

Very true, he’s looking at 2024 run for president,
Who could ever trust him with the next health crisis.

Or has he?

Meanwhile, Florida Press Secretary Christina Pushaw claimed in a tweet that both the White House press secretary and the McClatchy news outlet in Washington, D.C., “are both spreading disinformation. NOTHING has “reversed” or changed. The State of Florida is not placing any orders of covid shots for 0-5 year old babies & kids.”

If this is true then DeSantis has not changed his position, the State of Fl is not ordering the vaccine for its youngest citizens, and pediatricians are placing orders directly with the Fed Govt and not through the State.