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18h ago

Florida Moves to Roll Back School Vaccine Mandates

Officials plan rule changes to drop some requirements, leaving statutory mandates untouched for now.

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)
FILE - Pharmacist Kenni Clark injects Robert Champion, of Lawrence, Mass., with a booster dosage of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic at City of Lawrence's "The Center," Dec. 29, 2021, in Lawrence, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Co-owner Marc Ost at Eric's Rx Shoppe, and Michelle Santo unpack and log a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines at the store in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Overview

  • Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a push to end school vaccine mandates, framing the effort as medical freedom.
  • The health department plans to pursue rule changes to eliminate four department-level requirements—varicella, hepatitis B, Hib, and pneumococcal—and to expand exemptions to include personal-belief opt-outs.
  • Vaccines set in Florida statute, including MMR and polio, cannot be repealed without legislative approval, and top Republican legislative leaders have not endorsed such changes.
  • The department described a roughly 80-day window for rolling out new exemptions, a timeline that experts say means no immediate impact on the current school year.
  • Major medical groups including the AAP and AMA condemned the plan, citing falling kindergarten coverage in Florida and a 2025 measles resurgence with more than 1,400 cases and several deaths nationwide.