Florida is poised to wipe its vaccine mandates off the books, with state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announcing Wednesday that all requirements—including those for schoolchildren against diseases like measles and polio—are set to end, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Ladapo didn't offer details on the process or a timeline for when the changes could take effect, but he did have some strong words:
- "All of them. All of them," he said of the vaccine mandates that would go during a news conference to applause, reports NBC News. "Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery."
- "Who am I as a government or anyone else, who am I as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in [their] body? I don't have that right."
- "You want to put whatever different vaccines in your body, God bless you. I hope you make an informed decision. You don't want to put whatever vaccines in your body, God bless you. I hope you make an informed decision. That's how it should be."
The move marks a sharp escalation for the DeSantis administration, which until recently had mostly targeted COVID-19 vaccines with its criticism. In 2022, Ladapo's Health Department broke with the American Academy of Pediatrics by advising that healthy kids skip mRNA COVID shots; the no-COVID-vaccine recommendation was later expanded to all ages. Should the state do away with all vaccine mandates, it would be the first US state to do so, reports the New York Times.
The World Health Organization credits vaccines with saving 154 million lives over the past half-century, mainly among infants. Health officials warn that rolling back vaccine mandates could threaten that progress, pointing to past successes like the eradication of smallpox. In 1855, Massachusetts became the first state to require that children have a smallpox vaccine before going to school, the Mayo Clinic notes in a look at the history of vaccine requirements in the US.
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