Florida is breaking new ground in public health policy, becoming the first state to end vaccine mandates, including for school-aged children. Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo made the announcement Wednesday, shortly before Democrats and other health professionals described the move as “reckless.”
“So many of these entrenched elites were turning to coercive measures,” DeSantis said during a press conference in Tampa Bay regarding COVID-19 mandates. “Trying to dictate non-pharmaceutical interventions, mandates, pushing products on people they didn’t want.”
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Florida ends vaccine mandates for schoolchildren
All vaccine mandates have now been removed from the state of Florida.
“Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo said as the audience applauded the move.
Both Ladapo and DeSantis pointed back to the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidance issued at the time. They argued that officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci promoted measures such as cloth masks or prolonged school closings without providing what they considered solid scientific evidence, describing them as “noble lies.”
“They were trying to induce you to behave the way, they want you to behave, including putting out a lot of things that were simply not true,” DeSantis said.
The decision to end mandates does not ban vaccines in Florida. Students in public schools are still required to be vaccinated, according to the state’s health department. Florida health officials list vaccine requirements by grade level, such as Hepatitis B for preschoolers and four to five doses of DTaP for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
As Florida moves to end half a dozen mandates, Ladapo said vaccination will be a voluntary choice for parents and students.
“You want to put whatever different vaccines in your body, God bless you. I hope you make an informed decision,” Ladapo said. “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.”
Democrats and health officials criticize the move
Florida Senate Democrats criticized the move, calling it “reckless.”
“This is ridiculous. Florida already has broad medical and religious exemptions for childhood vaccines, so any family that has a sincere opposition to vaccination can opt out,” Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman said in a statement. “Removing the mandate wholesale is dangerous, anti-science, and anti-child. Nobody wants to go back to the days of iron lungs.”
Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, who is also running for Orlando mayor, warned on X that ending vaccine mandates could lower immunization rates and leave children, seniors and other vulnerable Floridians at greater risk for preventable diseases.
The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics told multiple outlets that children are often in close contact, whether on playgrounds or in classrooms, making it easier for contagious diseases to spread rapidly.
“When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it is harder for diseases to spread and easier for everyone to continue learning and having fun. When children are sick and miss school, caregivers also miss work, which not only impacts those families but also the local economy,” said Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the Florida Chapter of the AAP.
Ladapo’s history back in the spotlight
Ladapo has faced national criticism before. In 2024, he pushed to halt mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, arguing they could alter or contaminate human DNA. Most recently, he made headlines to end fluoride in the drinking water within Florida. He said the decision should be up to each community to decide whether to remove fluoride.
In 2022, Ladapo was accused of modifying a COVID-19 vaccine study to exaggerate the risk of heart-related deaths in young men, with a public records request showing he used the altered data to claim Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were unsafe.
CDC data shows long-term benefits of childhood vaccines
Since 1994, the U.S. Vaccines for Children program has made vaccines accessible for families that might struggle to cover the cost. According to CDC data, routine childhood vaccinations for kids born between 1994 and 2023 are estimated to have prevented roughly 508 million illnesses, 32 million hospitalizations and over 1.1 million deaths.
The agency reported that these vaccinations have saved $540 billion in direct medical costs and $2.7 trillion when accounting for wider societal benefits.
DeSantis unveils Make America Healthy Again commission
DeSantis also unveiled the Florida Make America Healthy Again commission, a new initiative that mirrors Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to address what he calls the chronic illness epidemic.
The commission will be led by First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, with members including Ladapo and other health officials.
DeSantis said the commission will work on a new “medical freedom package” in the next legislative session, aiming to solidify the state’s recent rollback of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and reshape vaccine mandate rules under state law.
