Florida could become the first state in the United States to end vaccination requirements for its children. The controversial idea to eliminate vaccine mandates appears to have the support of the state’s far-right Governor Ron DeSantis and fits the agenda being pushed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. But public health experts warn that the proposal, which has not yet been approved or implemented, could endanger the state’s population and create outbreaks of preventable diseases.
Surgeon General, Governor seek ‘to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law’
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, an ally of DeSantis who was chosen by the governor for the role, announced in a Wednesday press conference that he was seeking an end to all vaccine requirement in the state. Ladapo announced to a cheering crowd on Wednesday that “the Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law.” Framing his opposition to vaccine mandates in terms of bodily autonomy and religious freedom, Ladapo said of vaccine requirements that “every last one of them is wrong and drips of disdain and of slavery.” Ladapo did not explain in detail how to implement the massive rollback of vaccine requirements, only saying that Florida lawmakers “are gonna have to make decisions” about the requirements and urging them to side with his stance.
Ladapo’s opposition to public health requirements is well-documented, as are various falsehoods that he has promoted concerning vaccines. Among other instances of making false claims about vaccines, public records demonstrate that Ladapo personally altered the results of a scientific study to claim that COVID-19 vaccines increased the risk of cardiac arrest among young men. Despite Ladapo’s views being rejected and deemed dangerous by many within the scientific community, his stances align with those of the Trump administration. Policies enacted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy have weakened vaccine access and gutted public health infrastructure, leading to active opposition from employees of agencies like the CDC. Robert W Malone, a physician recently appointed by Kennedy to advise on vaccine policy, reported Ladapo’s anti-vaccine announcement with the caption “Go Joe!”
Rolling back vaccine mandates could create significant dangers and costs
Governor DeSantis has clarified that he believes that the Florida Department of Health can cancel vaccine mandates that are not written in state law, but the Florida state legislature would have to act to remove requirements that are covered by state statutes. Florida state law currently mandates vaccines for “poliomyelitis, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, pertussis, mumps, tetanus, and other communicable diseases as determined by rules of the Department of Health.” Currently, the Department of Health mandates four additional vaccines for children: chickenpox, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis B, and pneumococcal disease. It is likely that these could be the first mandates to be discontinued.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that nationally, “among approximately 117 million children born during 1994–2023, routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented approximately 508 million lifetime cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths, at a net savings of $540 billion in direct costs and $2.7 trillion in societal costs” Even before any changes are made, Florida is currently second to Texas for the state with the most non-medical exemptions for vaccine requirements, with over 10,000 kindergarten students opting out of required vaccines in the 2024-2025 school year. The state’s large number of unvaccinated children has concerned many doctors in Florida, some of whom have considered dropping unvaccinated patients so as not to risk infecting other patients who come to physicians’ waiting rooms.
While the details are still being developed, it appears that the policy changes endorsed by Ladapo and DeSantis are poised to significantly scale back the number of vaccines required in Florida. If the DeSantis administration has its way, it could eventually push through legislation to eliminate vaccine requirements altogether. National vaccine skepticism has coincided with public health crises, such as the largest measles outbreak in 25 years. Removing requirements for an entire state could multiply such crises, putting Floridians and the country as a whole at greater risk.
