64DER21-15 was the first rule signed by the newly appointed head of the Florida Department of Health, Ladapo. You can find the text of the ruling at this link. Ladapo's first rule forbid local school districts from instituting a mask mandate despite the advice of the CDC and most health experts.
Excerpts from this article written when kids under 16 were not yet eligible for the vaccine, but parents were wanting their kids back in school: Laboratory simulations confirm that masks stop many — though not all — of these droplets that could contain the virus. Jeremy Howard, author of a review of masking research and a research scientist at the University of San Francisco, says the benefits of masks very likely apply in school. “For masks in schools, the weight of evidence, when you combine it all together, is very strong,” he said. Mike Smith, a pediatrics professor and epidemiologist at Duke said “We have to make decisions weighing the risks and benefits without the gold standard randomized-controlled trial data.” Chalkbeat dove into the research. In short, existing studies focusing on schools — including those cited on both sides of the debate — are strikingly limited. Little if any research has definitively shown what effect masks have on COVID spread in schools. At the same time, there is a broader body of evidence collected in other settings that suggests that masks help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases like COVID-19. ... Keep the basic logic of masking in mind. COVID-19 “is transmitted predominately by inhalation of respiratory droplets generated when people cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe,” explains the CDC. The logic of masks, then, is straightforward. They can block particles, protecting the wearer and limiting transmission from an individual who has the virus. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/8/26/22643549/covid-masks-schools-research
Why did the state Board of Education only go after the district-run schools (not private or charter schools) that didn't follow Ladapo's rule?
It was outrageous that DeSantis and Ladapo threatened the funding of Florida's neighborhood schools if they followed CDC guidelines. The 4 out of the 7 Duval county school board members who voted for the mask mandate were following CDC guidelines during a time when hospitalizations for covid-19 were high. Ladapo’s rule was NOT following CDC guidelines.
Is Ladapo dangerous to the health of the citizens of Florida?
It is beginning to appear that Rivkees resigned because DeSantis wanted him to promote an agenda that would NOT follow the CDC guidelines. This is an excerpt from this article :
In an hour-long interview with anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree on the website Red Voice Media, Ladapo said he was in California when first contacted about a year ago via email by DeSantis’ then-Chief of Staff Adrian Lukisas as they sought a replacement for outgoing Surgeon General Scott Rivkees. During Ladapo’s interview, Ladapo said Rivkees is “very intelligent,” but also possessing “the mainstream perspective” in terms of the pandemic ...”
Excerpts from this article:
Florida recently passed 80,000 COVID deaths. The pace ebbs and flows, but the deaths keep coming, about 70 a day in recent weeks. We want COVID to be over, but the virus has other ideas. Since April 1, 2021 (the month when anyone 16 years and older became eligible for vaccination in Florida), Florida has by far the highest COVID death rate among the country’s six most populated states — California, Texas, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania rounding out the half dozen. ... One thing we know works: vaccines. They aren’t perfect and they won’t prevent everyone from getting the virus, but they keep large swaths of people out of the hospital and the morgue. Unfortunately, Florida lags in nearly every age group when it comes to getting a first booster, let alone a second
Recently Ladapo tweeted the link to a study which seemed to try to discourage rather than encourage people to get vaccinated.
I asked a statistician for a quick review of the summary conclusion in the study (that Ladapo tweeted) and this was her response:
The text says 10.1 to 15.1 per 10,000 vaccinated over placebo. So this is saying that there are about 10-15 more cases in the vaccinated group. Let’s say there were 5 events in the placebo group, then there were 15-20 events in the vaccination group depending on the adverse event of special interest (AESI). Let’s say there were 100 events in the placebo group, then there would be 115-120 events in the vaccination group, which isn’t much of a difference between the two groups. You need more detail on the raw numbers and clinical importance of the AESIs.
Is Ladapo dangerous to the health of the citizens of Florida? Has he done anything to encourage people to get vaccinated? Florida recently passed 80,000 COVID deaths.