Florida moves to end all vaccine mandates

Florida officials are seeking to end all vaccine mandates. If they are successful, Florida would be the first state to do so.

Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to ask the state legislature to repeal a statute that requires children to receive vaccines for polio, diphtheria, measles and mumps before entering school.

Other vaccines, including those for chickenpox, hepatitis B and strep, are mandated by the state health department as opposed to the state legislature. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, M.D., Ph.D., said his department will soon issue rules repealing those requirements too.

Health professionals have condemned the move.

Aileen Marty, M.D., an infectious disease expert at Florida International University, said it will cause “havoc,” while Susan Kressly, M.D., president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, expressed concerns about the risks to schoolchildren.

"We are concerned that today's announcement by Gov. DeSantis will put children in Florida public schools at higher risk for getting sick, and have ripple effects across their community,” Dr. Kressly said.

Read more: NPR

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