No, Florida government has not banned COVID-19 mRNA vaccines

Context

A video is being widely shared on social media with the claim Florida has banned COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in the state. The 4-minute-long viral video is a collage of three different clips and has the text "Game OVER FOR MRNA. FLORIDA BANS THE CV19JAB. De Santis "it's a bioweapon" on it.

The first clip of the video features a television news report where the anchors state that the Brevard County GOP plans to send a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis asking for a ban on COVID-19 vaccines. In the letter, county leaders referred to the vaccine as a "bioweapon". The rest of the video includes footage of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking at an event and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussing COVID-19 vaccines with some people. One Facebook post with the video had been viewed over 229,000 times and shared by over 12,000 accounts. An archived version of the post can be found here.

However, the claim is false. The Florida government has not banned COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

In fact

We checked the official websites of the Florida Government and the Florida Department of Health and found no official announcement, press release, or statement regarding a ban on  COVID-19 vaccines. 

The claim about Florida banning vaccines originated from a news segment by WPEC CBS12 News, a Florida-based CBS Television affiliate. According to the outlet, Republican Party leaders in Brevard County were planning to send a letter to Governor DeSantis calling for a ban on the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. The news segment was included in the first part of the viral clip.

According to the web version of the video report, published on July 12, the group leaders have written the first draft of the letter they want to send to DeSantis and other state officials, asking them to make the vaccines illegal in Florida. The letter claims that there is strong and credible evidence for COVID jabs being biological weapons and that they can alter human DNA. The Brevard County Republican Executive Committee (BREC) has voted in favor of sending the letter, the report added.

WPEC CBS 12's video report was shared by social media users to claim that the Florida government has banned COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. However, as of now, no such ban has been officially announced by Florida authorities.

According to an official news release dated May 11, Governor DeSantis had signed legislation prohibiting vaccine and mask mandates. The news release read, "The landmark legislative package signed today safeguards residents' freedom by ensuring no patient is forced by a business, school, or government entity to undergo testing, wear a mask, or be vaccinated for COVID-19." There is no mention of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine ban in the statement. 

In the later part of the video, Kennedy Jr. claims without evidence that COVID-19 is engineered to target specific races. Logically Facts has debunked this claim. 

Claims that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe and can alter DNA have surfaced earlier as well and have been debunked by fact-checking organizations, including Logically Facts.

The verdict

The viral video claiming that Florida has banned COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is not supported by evidence. While the state has enacted legislation prohibiting vaccine and mask mandates, there is no evidence of a ban on COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Therefore, we mark this claim false.