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4d ago

Florida Moves to End School Vaccine Mandates as Agency Prepares Rule Rollbacks

Initial changes target four DOH‑added shots through rulemaking, leaving statutory vaccines to the legislature.

FILE - Florida Department of Health Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo speaks during a Patient Freedom news conference on March 5, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
A pharmacy advertises COVID -19 testing and a vaccine on September 04, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Five years after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S, access to vaccines against the virus has come under scrutiny by the Donald Trump administration, causing concern among vulnerable groups, including children and those with pre-existing health conditions.
Co-owner Eric Abramowitz at Eric's Rx Shoppe unpacks a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines at the store in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Overview

  • Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced plans to eliminate all vaccine mandates, with Ladapo denouncing mandates as “drips with disdain and slavery.”
  • The Department of Health plans an ~80‑day rulemaking effort to drop requirements for varicella, hepatitis B, Hib, and pneumococcal vaccines and to add a personal‑belief opt‑out, though the process has not formally started.
  • Vaccines required by statute, including MMR and polio, can only be removed by lawmakers, and key Republican leaders have not committed to supporting repeal.
  • Major medical groups, including the AAP and AMA, warned the rollback would raise outbreak risks as Florida kindergarten coverage has fallen to about 88% and the U.S. has logged over 1,400 measles cases this year.
  • National reaction widened as President Donald Trump urged caution and praised longstanding vaccines, while DeSantis unveiled a state MAHA commission modeled on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda.