On Monday, the Surgeon General of Florida recommended against the COVID-19 booster for individuals under 65, making Florida the first state advise its residents to avoid the risky shots.

In a bulletin and video statement aimed at health care providers, Dr. Joseph Ladapo said that based on all the available data, the booster shots—formulated for the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant—are not worth the risk.

In September, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized two new mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for everyone 6 months and older.

“Based on the high rate of global immunity and currently available data, the State Surgeon General recommends against the COVID-19 booster for individuals under 65,” Ladapo said. “Individuals 65 and older should discuss this information with their health care provider, including potential concerns outlined in this guidance.”

In the guidance, the surgeon general urged health care providers to discuss with patients the lack of human clinical trial data for the boosters, and the risk of unfavorable vaccine results.

“Providers and patients should be aware of outstanding safety and efficacy concerns,” the bulletin said.

The Brogna and colleagues spike protein study linked in the memo found that 50 percent of vaccinated individuals still had spike protein circulating in their blood after  approximately 180 days.

“Once again, the federal government is failing Americans by refusing to be honest about the risks and not providing sufficient clinical evidence when it comes to these COVID-19 mRNA shots, especially with how widespread immunity is now,” said Ladapo.“In Florida, we will always use common sense and protect the rights and liberties of Floridians, including the right to accurate information.”

Both Pfizer and Moderna have invested heavily in ad campaigns urging Americans to get the booster shots.
So far, however, only “12 million people, or about 3.6 percent of the population” have gotten the jab in the five weeks since it became available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That’s worse than the uptake of last year’s boosters, which was only 17 percent.