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For weeks, the republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has hewed closely to the message coming from President Trump. This week, that message was all about planning to get the economy moving and returning to some semblance of normalcy.

So when Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Scott A. Rivkees, suggested on Monday that there would be no real return to normal until there was a vaccine — something experts think is at least a year away — he was most definitely not on message.

Dr. Rivkees had no sooner told reporters that Floridians would have to get used to wearing face masks and practicing social distancing measures than he was pulled away from the news conference by the governor’s spokeswoman.

“As long as we’re going to have Covid in the environment, and this is a tough virus, we’re going to have to practice these measures so that we are all protected,” Dr. Rivkees said. “Until we get a vaccine, which is a while off, this is going to be our new normal and we need to adapt and protect ourselves.”

In a video that was being widely circulated on social media, the governor’s communications director, Helen Aguirre Ferré, rushed over to whisper in Dr. Rivkees’s ear before the two left the room.

In an email to the Miami Herald, a spokesman for Dr. Rivkees did not say how the surgeon general had reached his conclusion on social distancing or whether the governor had agreed with it.

“Social distancing and improved hygiene have proven to be effective in impeding the spread of Covid-19,” the spokesman, Alberto Moscoso, wrote. “Until a vaccine is available, precautions will need to be taken to ensure public health.”