Florida Moves to End All School Vaccine Mandates, First State to Do So

Florida's Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced in early September 2025 the state's intent to eliminate all vaccine mandates, including requirements for children attending public schools to be immunized against diseases like polio and measles. This unprecedented move would make Florida the first U.S. state to fully repeal such long-standing public health requirements. The decision has ignited a fierce debate, with critics like Claire Lehmann stating in a recent tweet, "Still can't wrap my head around Florida scrapping polio and measles vaccines for kids attending school. It's like a government shutting down the sewage system on the basis that not having shit in one's drinking water is a matter of personal choice. It's just uncivilised."

Currently, all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., mandate certain vaccinations for school attendance, a practice that has been in place since the 1980s and is credited with controlling or eliminating highly infectious diseases. Florida's existing requirements include immunizations for diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), polio, measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), varicella (chickenpox), and hepatitis B. While some states offer medical, religious, or philosophical exemptions, Florida's plan aims to remove the mandates entirely.

Surgeon General Ladapo, speaking alongside Governor Ron DeSantis, framed the decision as a matter of "medical freedom" and parental choice, likening existing mandates to "slavery" and calling them "immoral." He stated, "Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? I don’t have that right. Your body is a gift from God." The Department of Health plans to enact rules allowing opt-outs for personal health benefits and will seek legislative changes to revoke legally mandated vaccines like MMR and polio.

Public health experts and medical organizations have strongly condemned Florida's proposed policy shift, warning of severe consequences. Dr. Debra Houry, who resigned from her post as CDC's chief medical officer, told the BBC that the move could lead to outbreaks of preventable diseases. Dr. Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called it "a major disaster," predicting "multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease." Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, highlighted that before the polio vaccine, nearly 60,000 cases occurred annually in the U.S., and measles caused 48,000 hospitalizations each year before its vaccine.

The American Medical Association (AMA) also expressed strong opposition, with Dr. Sandra Adamson Fryhofer stating, "This unprecedented 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." Florida's exemption rate for kindergartners in the 2024-2025 school year was already 5.1%, higher than the national average, with most being non-medical. The proposed changes align with a broader political trend in some states challenging federal health guidelines and vaccine policies.