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14h ago

Florida Scales Back Vaccine Mandate Rollback After Trump Rebuke

State health officials now pursue rule changes limited to non-statutory vaccines, leaving school-entry mandates unchanged.

Kiva Williams worries that her kids will be vulnerable to serious diseases if Florida ends all vaccine mandates.
A sign advertises flu, pneumonia, and shingles vaccine shots at a Walgreens pharmacy in Miami, Florida, U.S. September 4, 2025 REUTERS/Marco Bello
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said this month he was proposing doing away with vaccine mandates for everyone in the state, including schoolchildren.
An undated image shows a participant in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Misinformation and the historical trauma of the Tuskegee study is causing hesitancy in the Black community, experts warn.

Overview

  • The Florida Department of Health says its proposal would remove requirements for vaccines not tied to school entry, citing hepatitis B, varicella and influenza, while keeping polio, measles, mumps, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus requirements unless lawmakers change state law.
  • President Trump urged vaccination and criticized the all-encompassing pledge to end mandates, undercutting momentum for broader repeal.
  • Republican legislative leaders Ben Albritton and Daniel Perez have not committed to pursuing legislation to end statutory school-entry vaccine requirements.
  • Public-health experts warn the narrowed rollback could still lower already declining immunization rates in Florida, which have fallen about 10% over a decade, and increase the risk of outbreaks.
  • Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and supporters frame the effort as protecting parental rights and informed consent, while local health officials emphasize that mandates help maintain school herd immunity and prevent serious disease.