“The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates…” said Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo during a Wednesday press conference. “All of them. All of them. Every last one of them.”
Ladapo, also a professor of medicine at the University of Florida, added that “every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” He emphasized the importance of choice regarding what people chose to put into their bodies.
Currently, Florida has several immunization requirements for school, including the diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine, the inactivated polio vaccine and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), to name just a few. Certain vaccines are also recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a report last year, the World Health Organization said that “global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives – or the equivalent of six lives every minute of every year – over the past 50 years,” and that most people saved by vaccines (101 million) were infants. It called immunization “the single greatest contribution of any health intervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but continue leading healthy lives into adulthood.”
However, there are a considerable amount of vaccine skeptics and people who are concerned that the potential risks of vaccines may outweigh the benefits in some cases. Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of them.
He’s already made controversial changes to the way the U.S. approaches vaccines, including pulling $500 billion worth of funding for the development of COVID and influenza vaccines, as well as others. Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota joined Audacy this summer to slam the move.
“Well, I’ve been in this business 50 years now, and I cannot recall a more dangerous decision that was made than this one,” he told WCCO News Talk in Minnesota.
Kennedy has also vowed to “fix” the federal program for compensating Americans injured by vaccines, which WCCO said opens “the door to sweeping changes for a system long targeted by anti-vaccine activists.” There have also been reports that Kennedy and President Donald Trump are working to ban the COVID-19 vaccine. Previously, the administration removed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women.
“Today’s announcement from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., proposing to limit the availability of COVID-19 vaccines for children and young adults is deeply troubling,” said Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, last month.
Additionally, the ouster of former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Susan Monarez last week was reportedly related to a disagreement she had with Kennedy over vaccines.
As of this May, Kaiser Family Foundation poll results indicated that most adults are at least “somewhat confident” about the safety of routine vaccines, including the measles vaccine at 83% and the flu vaccine at 74% among adults ages 50 and older. Just over half (56%) said they were confident about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine. Audacy reported on data recently released by the CDC that showed the rate of children with a vaccine exemption reached an “all-time high” and that vaccination rates among young children had slipped.
This year, there have been 35 measles outbreaks reported in the U.S., more than double the 16 reported in 2024. An initial outbreak in Texas began in a small community where people had not been immunized against measles and the vast majority of cases are among the unvaccinated or people whose vaccination status is unknown. There have been conspiracy theories floating around about a link between the measles vaccine and autism, but the CDC said no links have actually been found.
Kennedy himself said that people should get measles vaccines amid the growing outbreak concerns.
“Of the vaccines included in the study, the measles vaccination had the most significant impact on reducing infant mortality, accounting for 60% of the lives saved due to immunization. This vaccine will likely remain the top contributor to preventing deaths in the future,” according to the World Health Organization.
Regarding Ladapo’s announcement in Florida, responses have been mixed. Typically, conservative voters support removing vaccine mandates more than liberal voters.
“I spoke with Dr. Ladapo yesterday -he is a measured scientist - who is on fire to change the system for the better!” said Dr. Robert Malone in an X post.
On the other hand, Florida Sen. Lori Berman (D) said this in a statement: “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. Removing the mandate wholesale is dangerous, anti-science and anti-child. Nobody wants to go back to the days of iron lungs.”
“I urge parents to follow the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and their trusted pediatrician, so that no one has to suffer from a serious or deadly illness. We know that vaccines work – for children and adults alike,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.). “I will fight to ensure that parents and families across America have access to accurate scientific and health information to keep them healthy and well.”
Along with Ladapo’s announcement, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the establishment of the Florida MAHA commission in line with Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
“Florida has become the leading state in the nation for medical freedom,” said DeSantis. “Our health policies are guided by evidence, common sense, and respect for individual rights – not ideological agendas or special interests.”