Hi and welcome to COVID Quickly, a scientific American podcast series.

This is your fast track update on the COVID pandemic.

We bring you up to speed on the science behind the most urgent questions about the virus

and the disease.

We demystify the research and help you understand what it really means.

I'm Tony Lewis.

I'm Josh Fishman.

And we're scientific American senior health editors.

Today, we'll go over the evidence that vaccines help kids,

despite Florida's absurd claims to the contrary.

Then we'll look at the war in Ukraine and its bad effects on COVID treatment and spread.

Last week, Florida's surgeon general created an uproar.

He said he wouldn't recommend vaccines for healthy children,

because the shots didn't help and might even cause harm.

That goes against all sorts of evidence, doesn't it?

What Florida officials said isn't true, Tonya.

In children, research shows COVID vaccines prevent infections and hospitalizations.

I'll run through that.

The policies of Florida's health departments

seem more in line with the politics of the state governor, Ron DeSantis,

than they are with reality.

DeSantis has argued that wearing masks and restricting activities when the disease is spreading

...