vaccine mandate

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers heard from nearly a dozen doctors on Tuesday who called on them to reject any proposed legislation that would remove vaccine mandates from Florida schools.

Health experts worry the policy change could lower vaccination rates and lead to a rise in preventable diseases — like polio, which most U.S. doctors have little experience spotting or treating.

Children in the United States are currently required to be vaccinated against a range of infectious diseases, including measles, to attend school and kindergarten. Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis announced recently the state will scrap all vaccine mandates for children attending school, describing them as “slavery”.

Florida announced its plans to be the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates for its citizens. Florida’s surgeon general has stated that “every last one” of these decades-old vaccine requirements “is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a plan in early September 2025 that he intends to make Florida the first state to end vaccine mandates across all schools. Florida has been a leader for other conservative states on education reform.

Dr. Scott Rivkees, a pediatrician who served as surgeon general from 2019 to 2021 during the COVID pandemic, says the state is going backward when it comes to childhood vaccines.

The rule changes could take effect by early December, according to the state Department of Health.

U.S. House Democrats from Florida have signed a letter urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to reverse Florida’s plans to eliminate school vaccine mandates.

On "The Florida Roundup," the president of the American College of Physicians said he believes the state not mandating vaccines for children will increase costs for health care.

Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said the state’s health department will end "every single" school vaccine mandate. Ladapo, who has a history of spreading inaccurate vaccine claims, equated the state’s vaccine requirements with slavery.

“The ripple effect of removing vaccine entry requirements would affect all of us, not just those with children in school,” said FCAAP President Rana Alissa.

Many parents, doctors and other public health workers worry that diseases controlled by vaccines for decades could resurface.