MIAMI--Florida plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for students to attend schools, the state's surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, announced on Wednesday, a move public health experts warned could trigger severe outbreaks among children, tourists and those with compromised immune systems.
Ladapo, along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, cast the issue of vaccination as one of personal choice. "Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery," Ladapo said at a press conference in Tampa. "Who am I as a government or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what to do with your body?"
Ladapo said his agency would roll back mandates for a half-dozen or so vaccines under its authority but will need to work with the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on a broader package of reforms. He did not specify which vaccine mandates his agency would do away with.
DeSantis, a Republican, made opposing COVID-19 mandates and precautions a central tenet of his first term in office. "Medical freedom is something we've got to be very conscientious about protecting," DeSantis said.
All U.S. states have vaccine requirements to attend public schools with specific exceptions varying by state.Vaccination rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria and polio, decreased among U.S. kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year, according to federal data.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the new figures in July in the midst of a growing measles outbreak, with confirmed cases that month reaching the highest level since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.Dr. Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said Florida's move was "going to be a major disaster."
"You're going to get multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease and spread of these diseases," she said. "These kids are going to bring it home."
If Florida follows through with dropping all vaccine mandates, it could also impact vaccination requirements at daycares or other places that require inoculations, she added.
It could also put people who are immunocompromised and unable to get vaccinated at risk of disease and death. And because 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, called the decision reckless."Every parent of a child who dies or who is hospitalized with a vaccine-preventable disease will know exactly why," said Osterholm, who is helping organize the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group of public health and infectious disease experts formed due to concerns about changes to U.S. vaccine policy.
