Florida's surgeon general has vowed to end mandatory vaccines in the state, even for children, and on Wednesday announced plans to eliminate them altogether.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who compared mandatory vaccination requirements to slavery during the announcement, is known for his vaccine skepticism.

Ladapo gained national attention after being appointed Florida’s surgeon general during the COVID-19 pandemic for issuing advisories that contradicted federal health authority guidelines and for seemingly relying on unreliable science.

Earlier this year, his name was among the most frequently mentioned as a candidate for the Trump administration’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. push to change the nation’s vaccination and immunization policies, Ladapo is poised to receive even more national attention and scrutiny.

An immigrant Harvard graduate

Ladapo, who immigrated with his family to the United States from Nigeria when he was 5 years old, received his medical training and a doctorate in health policy from Harvard University.

In addition to leading the Florida Department of Health, teaches medicine at the University of Florida, and conducts research to minimize cardiovascular risk in low-income and disadvantaged groups, according to his official biography published by the state.

The Tallahassee Democrat has reported that his total salary, which includes university teaching, exceeds $350,000 a year.

When Ladapo’s name was put forward for the high-profile position, Wilton Simpson, then the president of the Florida Senate, told Politico, “He appears to be very qualified and certainly has the credentials to be an excellent surgeon general.”

Earlier this year, the doctor Trump had nominated to head the CDC withdrew his nomination. He later endorsed Ladapo, who appeared on a short list of potential directors, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

The position would have given her outsized influence over the sweeping changes to vaccine policy and disease prevention measures being implemented by Kennedy, with whom he shares vaccine skepticism.

Ultimately, the position went to Dr. Susan Monarez, recently fired.

The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a potential Ladapo nomination for the position.

A controversial response to the pandemic

Only six U.S. states have the position of surgeon general of health, which is typically charged with promoting better health, preventing disease, and educating the public.

Ladapo also runs the vast and complex Florida Department of Health.

He took over as surgeon general in September 2021, a critical time in the COVID-19 pandemic. Just months earlier, the United States had begun administering vaccines to millions of Americans.

Although public health officials and leading medical associations backed the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, and despite the fact that they were developed under the direction of the first Trump administration, some in the country remained wary of the shots.

Many Republican political leaders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed Ladapo, opposed mandatory vaccinations.

Upon taking office, Ladapo challenged mask requirements meant to slow the spread of the virus and loosened rules to make it easier for children to return to school.

Throughout his tenure, he has issued statements about COVID-19 vaccines that appear to contradict guidance from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC, and the advice of vaccine experts.

In In 2022, Ladapo issued an advisory warning of an “abnormally high risk of heart-related death” for young men who had been vaccinated.

Multiple public health experts criticized its analysis and the research it used as the basis for that assessment.

“I’m reluctant to even call it a report; it hasn’t been published anywhere,” Robert Wachter, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Washington Post at the time.

Wachter noted that the report lacked the scientific rigor to be used as a basis for altering public policy.

In 2023, Politico reported that Ladapo had altered a state study on vaccines.

Using public records, the outlet found that Ladapo's modifications pointed to a higher risk of cardiac death than the study previously indicated.

The alterations suggested a greater health risk for young men than medical experts had established.

End of mandatory vaccines in Florida

Before Florida announced it was ending all vaccine requirements, DeSantis asked the CDC in March to stop recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for children.

He also requested an end to mandates for vaccines that use mRNA technology.

Two of the leading vaccines against Covid-19, those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are mRNA vaccines.

Ladapo said in a statement that revoking the requirements “will strengthen patient sovereignty.”

She also claimed the government does not have the right to tell people what to put in their bodies and that the mandates are akin to slavery.

The Department of Health that Ladapo runs will be able to repeal some of the mandates directly, while others must be repealed by the state legislature.

However, national experts, professional groups, and public health officials have already condemned the measure.

“When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it makes it harder for disease to spread and it’s easier for everyone to continue enjoying themselves and learning,” American Academy of Pediatrics President Susan Kressly said in a statement released Wednesday.

Kressly warned that the plans could “put children in Florida public schools are at higher risk of getting sick.”

“When children are sick and miss school, parents also miss work, which not only affects those families, but also the local economy,” he added.