佛罗里达州塔拉哈西——佛罗里达州医务总监的约瑟夫·拉达普博士周二拒绝透露他是否收到了一份冠状病毒疫苗在一次有争议的确认听证会上，民主党人敦促该州的顶级医生推广疫苗注射。
今年9月由共和党州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)任命的拉达波，因与州长在反对新冠肺炎疫苗授权和其他问题上的密切合作，吸引了全国的关注健康联邦政府支持的政策。
周二，民主党人明显对拉达普感到失望，指责他回避问题、危害公众安全健康通过他们所描述的自由放任的方法疫苗。
“看起来确实有很多关于疫苗的问题，你也有些模棱两可。你就是不能站出来说你相信疫苗是预防的非常重要的一步，这是有原因的吗?”民主党参议员蒂娜·波尔斯基(Tina Polsky)问道，他推动拉达普透露自己的疫苗接种状况。
Ladapo不愿透露自己是否接种了疫苗，称这是私人医疗信息。他还说，“随着时间的推移，疫苗对感染的保护作用会下降”，但“不幸的是，关于这一点的讨论很少。”卫生局局长此前曾表示，疫苗在预防住院和死亡方面具有很高的有效性。
他说:“我个人认为，人们可以通过信息为自己做出决定，我认为，在某些方面，如果胁迫或虚假数据或隐藏数据等因素不在这一过程中，他们可能会做出更容易接受的决定。
拉达普和波尔斯基之间的来回发生在这位卫生局局长因拒绝戴口罩而被要求离开波尔斯基办公室的一次会议几个月后。她告诉他她有严重的疾病，后来说她患有乳腺癌。拉达普发表声明称，他对她的病情感到“悲伤”，并祝愿她“幸福和力量”。
在民主党人提出一系列问题后，参议院道德和选举委员会的共和党人最终批准了拉达普的任命。拉达普现在必须得到参议院全体议员的批准，才能被正式确认。
上个月晚些时候，在拉达普的首次确认听证会上，参议院卫生政策委员会的民主党人在投票前突然冲出房间，指责拉达普回避了该州冠状病毒应对措施的问题。
Florida's top doctor refuses to say if he's vaccinated
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo on Tuesday declined to disclose whether he has received acoronavirusvaccine during a contentious confirmation hearing where Democrats pressed the state's top doctor to promote the shots.
Ladapo, appointed in September by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, has attracted national scrutiny over his close alignment with the governor in opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates and otherhealthpolicies embraced by the federal government.
On Tuesday, Democrats grew visibly frustrated with Ladapo, accusing him of evading questions and endangering publichealththrough what they described as a laissez-faire approach tovaccines.
“It certainly seems like there has been a lot of questions about vaccines and there is some equivocation on your part. Is there a reason why you just can’t come out and say that you believe vaccines are a very important step for prevention,” asked Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat, pushing Ladapo to reveal his own vaccination status.
Ladapo would not disclose if he has been vaccinated, saying that is private medical information. He also said that “with the vaccines, as time goes by, the protection from infection declines” but “unfortunately, there's been little discussion about this.” The surgeon general has previously said the vaccines provide high effectiveness for the prevention of hospitalization and death.
“I personally believe that people can make their decisions for themselves with information and I think that in some ways they probably make decisions that they’re more comfortable with if elements like coercion or misrepresentation of data or hiding of data are not part of the process,” he said.
The back-and-forth between Ladapo and Polsky comes months after the surgeon general was asked to leave a meeting at Polsky's office for refusing to wear a mask. She had told him she had a serious medical condition and later said she had breast cancer. Ladapo released a statement that said he was “saddened” by the news of her illness and wished her “blessings and strength.”
Republicans in the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections eventually approved Ladapo's confirmation after the series of questions from Democrats. Ladapo must now receive approval from the full Senate before he is officially confirmed.
Late last month, during Ladapo's first confirmation hearing, Democrats in the Senate Committee on Health Policy abruptly stormed out of the room before casting their votes, accusing Ladapo of dodging questions on the state's coronavirus response.
