Florida To Do Away With Vaccine Mandates, Will It Go Viral?

The State of Florida is seeking to remove all immunization requirements for children, leaving it up to the descretion of the parents on whether or not they recieve a shot. Courtesy of Ed Us via Unsplash.

“If you don’t wanna put whatever vaccines in your body, God bless you… That’s how it should be,” said Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo during a state announcement. The statement comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Ladapo himself led the charge to remove and repeal vaccine mandates in the Sunshine State.

This policy change is expected to go into effect for the immunizations of hepatitis B, chickenpox and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) by December. Immunizations for mumps, measles, rubella, whooping cough and tetanus, among others, are protected by state statute. DeSantis plans to ask the Florida Legislature to repeal this.

This announcement follows an April report citing a rise in those seeking religious exemptions from vaccination requirements, as well as a rise in hepatitis A and whooping cough cases.

Ladapo is known for his stance against vaccines, at one point likening vaccine requirements to slavery. He has stressed that it is inappropriate for a government to overstep a parent’s right to choose what goes in their kids or the right of someone to make that decision for themselves, saying, “You [all] have sovereignty over your body.”

In a CNN interview, when asked if he or his department had conducted any data analysis or created any projections on how this policy could impact public health, Ladapo said, “Absolutely not,” arguing that the issue was less about science and more about what is right and wrong.

Critics have been quick to voice their concerns.

“This will cause havoc,” said Dr. Aileen Marty, an expert on infectious diseases at Florida International University. “Problems for funding free vaccines for the impoverished and issues with vaccines to the rest of us due to insurance-related issues.” 

“Infectious disease is just a flight away,” said Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatrician at Stamford Children’s Health.

The Florida Medical Association has condemned the plan, and President Donald Trump appeared hesitant to endorse the idea, citing the successful polio vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines developed in part because of Operation Warp Speed.

“Florida's undertakers will now need to plan for the future by increasing their stocks of small coffins,” said Dr. John Moore, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Florida is the first to champion this kind of policy. Louisiana has stopped promoting vaccinations but has not yet sought to dismantle in place mandates.

At the federal level, vaccines remain a hot topic. Many states on both coasts are creating their own coalitions and releasing guidance that at times clash with the current Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration. 

The debate has intensified after the firing of every Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices member by the Head of the Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the cancellation of many federal mRNA research contracts, and an additional $500 million pulled from research funding, alongside his conspiratorial views on vaccines.

Whether or not any states follow Florida’s example, vaccine requirements remain in the national spotlight. The first measles-related deaths in more than a decade occurred this year in Texas, and whooping cough is spreading across Florida, creating reason to be alarmed about an increased number of people sick. However, changes in government policy should perhaps also have people worried about whether or not they will be able to afford the proper defense against these diseases in the coming years.