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Dive Brief:
Florida will aim to end all vaccine mandates, including those required for schoolchildren, said state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo during a news conference Wednesday.
Florida would be the first state to not require vaccinations, Ladapo said. Currently, the state requires a variety of immunizations for preschool and K-12 school attendance, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Vaccine critics have opposed government enforcement of what they said should be personal healthcare decisions. Healthcare experts supportive of vaccinations point to their effectiveness in eradicating diseases and keeping the public healthy.
Dive Insight:
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all 50 states and Washington, D.C., require certain vaccinations for school attendance. Most states also allow for exemptions due to religious or personal reasons.
Vaccine skepticism has grown over the past few years after much debate about the need for COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools. Pandemic school closures and vaccine mandates helped fuel the “parents rights” movement in schools.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccination participation among kindergarteners in the U.S. decreased for all reported vaccines in the 2024-25 school year compared to the school year before, ranging from 92.1% for the diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine to 92.5% for both the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the polio vaccine.
While the CDC recommends childhood vaccination schedules, school immunization requirements are typically set at the state level.
A survey of 538 U.S. adults taken by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, released in January, found that 73% of respondents supported vaccine mandates for schools.
Earlier this year, a rise in measles cases across several states concerned school communities. Health experts at the time said schools play a vital role in vaccine education and outbreak prevention.
Ladapo said that some of Florida’s vaccine mandates are set by policy from the health department, which can be more easily eliminated. Other mandates would need approval from the state legislature. He did not offer a timeline for these actions.
He called vaccine mandates “wrong” and “immoral.”
“What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God,” Ladapo said. “I don’t have that right. Government does not have that right.”
