Florida to eliminate all state vaccine mandates, surgeon general says

[Female doctor giving a vaccination shot to a young woman]
kuniharu wakabayashi/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Florida is poised to become the first U.S. state to eliminate all vaccine requirements, including those for children attending public schools.

The decision was announced Wednesday by State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, a longtime critic of immunization policies, who declared that every remaining mandate in Florida law will be repealed.

“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,” Ladapo said at a news conference. He noted that the state currently mandates “maybe half a dozen” vaccinations.

Currently, all 50 states require certain vaccinations for school attendance, though exemptions vary. Florida already allows parents to opt out on religious grounds, but eliminating mandates altogether could significantly reduce immunization rates.

The announcement also comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pursues broad changes to federal immunization policy. His initiatives include dismantling a key government advisory panel, cutting funding for mRNA vaccine development, and scaling back Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for certain groups.

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