Florida Moves To Repeal School Vaccine Requirements, Raising Alarms

State health officials on December 12 held a public hearing and the first in a series of workshops aimed at rescinding or loosening school vaccine requirements, advancing a high profile initiative driven by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. The meeting in Panama City Beach drew parents, medical professionals, and survivors who urged different conclusions about the aims and potential consequences of a substantial policy shift.

Surgeon General Ladapo has publicly supported the administration goal of eliminating vaccine mandates in Florida law, saying, “The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law. All of them. All of them. Every last one of them.” Officials have signaled a range of options under consideration, from administrative rule changes that could ease some requirements to legislative proposals that would be necessary to repeal statutory mandates for vaccines such as those that protect against measles and polio.

At the public hearing advocates on both sides testified. Among those urging the retention of mandates was Jamie Schanbaum, who lost legs and fingers after contracting meningitis while a college student. Reporters said several parents expressed concern about the safety net that school vaccine requirements provide, especially for children who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Medical associations and infectious disease specialists responded sharply. The American Medical Association said it “strongly opposes Florida’s plan to end all vaccine mandates, including those required for school attendance,” and warned that the rollback “would undermine decades of public health progress and place children and communities at increased risk for diseases such as measles, mumps, polio, and chickenpox resulting in serious illness, disability, and even death.” Dr. Frederick Southwick, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida, told reporters, “I feel very sad to hear the distrust of physicians in the medical community. We only have our patients’ welfare in mind.”

Public health officials and researchers point to data that underscore the stakes. Florida’s kindergarten vaccination rate is about 88 percent, below the national average of about 93 percent and under the commonly cited 95 percent threshold for herd immunity for many childhood diseases. Florida currently permits medical and religious exemptions for school required vaccines. Some proposals under discussion would add a philosophical or personal belief exemption, a policy that 14 states currently allow and that public health experts associate with lower overall coverage.

Legal analysts and officials emphasized limits to what the administration can accomplish without the legislature. Administrative rulemaking could change certain operational requirements, but eliminating statutory mandates for specific vaccines would require passage of bills in both the Florida Senate and House. State officials had not released draft rule language at the time of the December 12 hearing, leaving specifics and timing uncertain.

Public testimony and the debate reflect broader tensions that emerged during the COVID 19 pandemic, when vaccine distrust grew in some communities. Advocates for maintaining mandates say removing them would likely exacerbate disparities faced by children in under resourced districts and those with chronic health conditions. The administration’s next steps could include additional workshops, release of proposed rule language, and potential legislation in the next session, all of which will determine whether Florida alters decades of established school vaccination policy.