Florida to End Statewide Vaccine Mandates

Florida plans to end all statewide vaccination requirements, including for students to attend schools, announced the state’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, on Wednesday (3) – the position is equivalent to the state Health Secretary in Brazil. The move, according to public health experts, could lead to severe outbreaks among children, tourists, and people with compromised immune systems. Ladapo, along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, presented vaccination as a personal choice. ‘Each and every one of them [the requirements] is wrong and overflows with disdain and slavery,’ said Ladapo at a press conference in Tampa. ‘Who am I as a government or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here right now to tell you what to do with your bodies?’ Ladapo stated that his agency would revoke requirements for about half a dozen vaccines under his authority but would need to work with Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature on a broader package of reforms. He did not specify which vaccination requirements his agency would eliminate. DeSantis, a Republican, has made opposition to requirements and precautions against Covid-19 a central principle of his first term. ‘Medical freedom is something we must protect with great consciousness,’ he said. All US states have vaccination requirements to attend public schools, with specific exemptions varying by region. In practice, Florida’s change would turn the exceptions –which in general lack justification if a family chooses not to vaccinate children– into the norm, without the need for justification. Vaccination rates for various diseases, including measles, diphtheria, and polio, decreased among US kindergarten students in the 2024/2025 school year, according to federal data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the new numbers in July amid a growing measles outbreak, with confirmed cases reaching the highest level in that month since the disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. Dr. Tina Tan, President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said Florida’s move ‘will be a major disaster.’ ‘There will be multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the spread of these diseases,’ she said. ‘These children will take the disease home.’ If Florida moves ahead with suspending all vaccination requirements, it could also affect vaccination requirements in daycares or other places that require immunization, she added. This could also put immunocompromised individuals who are unable to vaccinate at risk of disease and death. And since Florida is a major vacation destination, the move could spread diseases to other states. Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, considered the decision ‘reckless.’ ‘Every parent of a child who dies or is hospitalized with a vaccine-preventable disease will know exactly why,’ said Osterholm, who is part of the Vaccine Integrity Project organization, a group of public health and infectious disease experts formed due to concerns about changes in US vaccination policy. Shares of Covid vaccine makers fell, with Pfizer down 0.9% and Moderna falling 1.4%. ‘THE NEXT GOVERNOR MAY FIRE THIS GUY’ Former President Donald Trump’s health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long questioned vaccine safety and promoted the view that they contribute to increased autism rates, contrary to scientific evidence. Since taking office this year, Kennedy has taken steps to overhaul US vaccine policy, dismissing CDC vaccine expert consultants and replacing them with people who more closely share his views. Last week, CDC director Susan Monarez was fired after a disagreement with Kennedy over vaccine policy, leading to the resignation of four of the agency’s top officials, who stated they could no longer trust her ability to maintain scientific integrity. DeSantis said on Wednesday that he is forming a committee to align the state with Kennedy’s health agenda, which will also provide input for a legislative package. Ladapo said that, as the state’s top public health authority, he does not have the authority to require certain vaccines. ‘Your body is a gift from God,’ he said. ‘What you put in your body is a result of your relationship with your body and with God. I don’t have that right.’ Ladapo criticized Pfizer and BioNTech’s mRNA vaccines against Covid and Moderna and in 2023 called on regulatory agencies to study what he considered their harmful effects, again without scientific evidence. Covid vaccines in the first year of use during the pandemic saved about 14.4 million lives worldwide, according to a study published in The Lancet. Ladapo also urged Florida communities to stop adding fluoride to drinking water. During the Covid pandemic, Ladapo was advised by Tracy Beth Hoeg, a sports medicine specialist who worked for him as an epidemiologist. Hoeg opposed the use of masks and mandatory measures during the pandemic, as well as the use of some childhood vaccines. She now works at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Before the White House appointed Susan Monarez to head the CDC, some US media reports briefly mentioned Ladapo as a possible candidate. DeSantis suggested again on Wednesday that he would be a good choice to lead the national public health agency. David Jolly, a Democratic candidate to succeed DeSantis as governor, criticized Ladapo on X. ‘The next governor will fire this guy. I know I would,’ he said. CDC data show that, for the 2024/2025 school year, about 5.1% of Florida kindergarten students were exempt from one or more vaccines, or about 11,287 children. In percentage terms, Florida is on par with many states, though in absolute numbers, it trails only Texas. California, Oregon, and Washington also announced on Wednesday that they have launched a new West Coast Health Alliance to provide unified vaccine recommendations amid tensions over federal immunization policies and public health guidelines. Under the West Coast Health Alliance, the states said they would make joint recommendations on who should receive vaccines, based on information from national medical associations, even if they diverge from federal guidelines.