Florida plans to eliminate all vaccine mandates statewide — including those for schools — according to an announcement by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo at a Wednesday news conference. The move has sparked strong backlash from the healthcare community.
Ladapo, who is a longtime vaccine critic, argued that “every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” Florida would be the first state to end all vaccine mandates.
“Who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in your body? I don’t have that right,” he said. His comments were made alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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The announcement comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a known vaccine critic — leads the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. Kennedy recently removed the CDC director and dismissed the agency’s independent vaccine advisory panel, replacing them with vaccine skeptics.
It’s estimated that vaccines have saved about 154 million lives over the last 50 years, the vast majority being infants, according to the World Health Organization.
The American Medical Association slammed Florida’s plan to end all vaccine mandates.
“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,” said Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD, trustee of the American Medical Association, in a statement. “While there is still time, we urge Florida to reconsider this change to help prevent a rise of infectious disease outbreaks that put health and lives at risk.”
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An executive at Pluto Health, a company focused on connecting patients to needed care (including vaccines), also condemned the announcement.
“I believe this decision is seriously misguided,” said Eric Perakslis, Pluto Health’s chief scientific and data officer and former chief information officer of the FDA, in an email. “Having worked with Partners in Health and Doctors Without Borders in countries where vaccines are not readily available, I have seen firsthand the devastating consequences when people suffer from diseases that could have been eradicated or prevented. It is heartbreaking to watch communities endure avoidable illness simply because they lack the access to basic vaccines.”
Another health tech executive — Dr. Amy Bucher, chief behavioral officer of Lirio — expressed concern over Florida’s announcement. Lirio offers a personalization engine that combines behavioral science and AI. Bucher is also a researcher who recently conducted a study on vaccination behaviors in the U.S.
“As someone who has studied vaccine behaviors extensively, including the barriers that already exist for people to access and accept vaccines, I find this decision deeply concerning. Vaccine mandates, especially in institutional settings like schools, workplaces, and healthcare facilities, play a critical role in protecting public health,” Bucher said. “Removing them not only weakens the infrastructure that supports vaccine uptake but also sends a signal that these preventive measures are optional or unnecessary.”
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