MIAMI — Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo has come out strongly against mask mandates and lockdowns, only supports vaccination campaigns if the shots are voluntary and will not say whether he himself has been vaccinated.
But in pushing for State Senate confirmation of Dr. Ladapo as Florida’s next surgeon general, Gov. Ron DeSantis has found a partner in fighting what Dr. Ladapo calls the policies of “fear.”
For a Republican governor whose brash opposition to conventional public health wisdom has helped fuel obvious presidential ambitions, the appointment of Dr. Ladapo signals Mr. DeSantis’s determination to continue powering through a pandemic that has already cost 68,000 lives in Florida — this time, with what the governor can claim is a medical seal of approval.
The Florida Senate confirmed Dr. Ladapo’s appointment on Wednesday by a 24-15 vote, with all Republicans voting in favor over strong objections from Democrats.
The DeSantis doctrine has asserted that older people should be protected from the virus but that younger people who are less at risk should do as they wish. Otherwise, the psychological and economic effects might be too damaging, both for individuals and for Florida’s cachet as a mecca for tourism and international business.
“Telling the truth, I think, is important, and I think that’s what Dr. Ladapo understands,” Mr. DeSantis said in selecting the former researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, to run the Florida Department of…
