By James Oliphant and Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters
Florida's Surgeon General Dr Joseph Ladapo Photo: AFP / Getty Images / Joe Raedle
Florida plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for children to attend schools, the state's surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, announced on Wednesday (US time), likening the requirements to "slavery."
The announcement was quickly condemned by public health experts, who warned the move could trigger severe outbreaks among children, tourists and those with compromised immune systems.
Ladapo, along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, cast the issue as one of personal choice.
"Every last one of the them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery," Ladapo said at a press conference in Tampa. "Who am I as a government or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what to do with your body?"
Ladapo did not provide specifics or a timeline for the changes. DeSantis, a Republican, made opposing Covid-19 mandates and precautions a central tenet of his first term in office.
"Medical freedom is something we've got to be very conscientious about protecting," DeSantis said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Photo: AFP
All US states have vaccine requirements to attend public schools with specific exceptions varying by state.
Vaccination rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria and polio, decreased among US kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year from the year before, according to federal data.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention released the new figures in July in the midst of a growing measles outbreak, with confirmed cases that month reaching the highest level since the disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000.
Dr Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said Florida's move would result in a major drop in vaccination rates.
"You're going to get multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease and spread of these diseases," she said. "These kids are going to bring it home."
If Florida follows through with dropping all vaccine mandates, it could also impact vaccination requirements at daycares or other places that require inoculations, she added.
It could also put people who are immunocompromised and unable to get vaccinated at risk of disease and death. And because Florida is a major vacation destination, the move could spread diseases to other states.
"It's going to be a major disaster," Tan said.
Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the decision "reckless."
"Every parent of a child who dies or who is hospitalised with a vaccine-preventable disease will know exactly why," said Osterholm, who is helping organise the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group of public health and infectious disease experts formed due to concerns about changes to US vaccine policy.
Shares of Covid vaccine makers were down, Pfizer by 0.9 percent and Moderna off 0.7 percent.
'Next governor gets to fire this guy'
President Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has long questioned the safety of vaccines and has promoted the view that vaccines contribute to rising rates of autism, contrary to scientific evidence.
Since taking office earlier this year, Kennedy has taken steps to remake US policy on vaccines, sidelining expert scientific advisers to the federal government and replacing them with people who more closely share his views.
Last week, the CDC's director was ousted after clashing with Kennedy over vaccine policy, prompting the resignation of four of the agency's most senior officials who said they could no longer trust their ability to maintain scientific integrity.
DeSantis said on Wednesday that he was establishing a commission to align the state with Kennedy's healthcare agenda.
Ladapo has criticised the mRNA Covid shots from Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna, and in 2023 called on regulatory agencies to study what he said were their harmful effects, without scientific evidence.
He also urged Florida communities to stop adding fluoride to drinking water.
During the Covid pandemic, Ladapo was counselled by Tracy Beth Hoeg, a sports medicine physician who worked for him as an epidemiologist. Hoeg opposed masks and universal mandates during the pandemic and the use of some childhood vaccines. She is now employed at the US Food and Drug Administration.
Before the White House nominated Susan Monarez to head the CDC, some media reports briefly raised Ladapo as a possible candidate. DeSantis on Wednesday again suggested he would make a good choice to take over the public health agency.
David Jolly, a Democratic candidate to succeed DeSantis as governor, blasted Ladapo on X. "The next governor gets to fire this guy. I know I would," he said.
CDC data shows that for the 2024-2025 school year, about 5.1 percent of Florida kindergartners were exempted from one or more vaccines, or about 11,287 children. As a percentage rate, Florida ranks alongside many other states, though in absolute numbers, it is second only to Texas.
California, Oregon and Washington state said on Wednesday they launched a new health alliance to provide unified vaccine recommendations amid tensions over federal immunisation policies and public health directives.
Under the West Coast Health Alliance, the states said they will make joint recommendations on who should receive vaccines, informed by national medical associations even if they diverge from federal guidance.
_Reuters
