TAMPA, Fla. — Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo continues to criticize COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and is now urging the federal government to undertake an investigation into potential “injuries” associated with these vaccinations.

Dr. Ladapo made that announcement in Tampa on Thursday while praising new federal guidance that pulls back recommendations for certain groups.

Ladapo, who has consistently expressed opposition to the vaccines, hailed a recent statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which indicated that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer advised for healthy children and pregnant women. He noted that this aligns with the guidance Florida first issued three years prior.

“We made that same announcement three years ago,” Ladapo stated during a press conference. “Fortunately, very few children and adults are now receiving these mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. They are not suitable for human use.”

“These are products that should not be going into human beings,” he added.

Ladapo called on federal agencies, particularly the National Institutes of Health to expand research into what he calls vaccine “injuries,” alongside research into “Long COVID.”

“We need to study this better,” Ladapo said. “We need to fund physicians who are caring for these patients clinically and doing scientific work in this area.”

Ladapo has long been a critic of COVID-19 vaccines and has faced criticism himself from the broader medical community, who maintain the benefits of vaccines greatly outweigh the risks. In late 2023, the FDA wrote Ladapo a letter inferring his previous statements were “proliferation” of  “disinformation.”

“We know more about COVID vaccine than we know about any other vaccine we’ve ever used because we have given literally billions of doses around the world. And so, if there were some weird side effects, we would know about it,” said Dr. Mark Sawyer, on a SciLine panel of medical experts during a recent discussion on pediatric vaccinations.

Doctors and health experts note that while cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart have been observed, particularly in adolescent males, it is rare, generally mild and far less severe than heart conditions brought on by a COVID infection.

“What we know about COVID infection induced myocarditis is that it’s usually much more severe than COVID vaccine related myocarditis, which is usually very brief, perhaps involving a one day hospital stay just for some cardiac monitoring, followed by a quick discharge,” Dr. Josh Williams said during the discussion.

“If you add up the pros and cons on either side, you’re still going to end up with vaccination,” Sawyer added.

The CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination for most adults 18 and older. For children, it advises parents to consult with their health care providers about the benefits of vaccination.

“The COVID-19 vaccine helps protect you from severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” reads the CDC website.

“It is especially important to get your 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine if you are ages 65 and older, are at high risk for severe COVID-19, or have never received a COVID-19 vaccine,” it adds.