Will Florida’s plan to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates put the lives of schoolchildren at 'greater' risk? Here’s what expert says

In a big move, Florida is planning to become the first American state to eliminate vaccine mandates. These mandates have been a long-time cornerstone of public health policy for keeping schoolchildren and adults safe from infectious diseases. In Florida, vaccine mandates for child day care facilities and public schools include shots for measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis, polio, and other diseases, according to the state Health Department’s website.

Dr. Rana Alissa, chair of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said removing vaccines puts students and school staff at greater risk. “When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it is harder for diseases to spread and easier for everyone to continue learning and having fun,” Alissa said in an email accessed by news agency AP. “When children are sick and miss school, caregivers also miss work, which not only impacts those families but also the local economy.”

While announcing the decision on Wednesday (September 3, 2025), State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as “immoral” intrusions on people's rights that hamper parents' ability to make health decisions for their children, as reported by news agency AP.


“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment, said at a news conference in Valrico. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.” Following the latest announcement, Florida has made a significant departure from decades of public policy and research that has shown vaccines to be safe and the most effective way to stop the spread of communicable diseases, especially among schoolchildren, according to AP.

Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who is running for Orlando mayor, said in a social media post that scrapping vaccines “is reckless and dangerous” and could cause outbreaks of preventable disease. “This is a public health disaster in the making for the Sunshine State,” Eskamani said on the social platform X.

Vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives globally over the past 50 years, the World Health Organization reported in 2024. The majority of those were infants and children. “Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, was quoted by AP as saying.

Ladapo didn't give a timeline for the changes but said the department can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, though others would require action by the Florida Legislature. He did not specify any particular vaccines but repeated several times that the effort would end “all of them.” Every last one of them.”