The first stage of Florida’s new plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates in the state will not take effect for a few months, officials said on Sept. 8.
The Florida Department of Health initiated a change to requirements for childhood immunizations on Sept. 3 and “anticipates the rule change will not be effective for approximately 90 days,” a spokesperson for the department told The Epoch Times in an email.
The change would remove requirements for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines and vaccines for hepatitis B, varicella, and Haemophilus influenzae type B.
“All other vaccinations required by section 1003.22, Florida Statutes, for school entry in Florida remain in place, unless updated through legislation,” the spokesperson wrote. “This includes vaccines for poliomyelitis, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, pertussis, mumps, and tetanus.”
Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, with the support of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said on Sept. 3 that he would be working to end all vaccine mandates in the state. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida banned COVID-19 vaccine mandates for schools.
Ladapo said the effort was based on the idea that people should have the right to choose what to put into their bodies, as well as the bodies of their children.
Florida law currently requires several vaccines for children who attend day care, preschool, and primary school.
The Florida Department of Health would roll back vaccine requirements imposed by Ladapo’s predecessors that had not been part of state law, officials said at a news conference. Ladapo was going to meet with legislators about the other mandates, they said.
“The rest would require changes from the Legislature,” DeSantis said.
Ladapo “is going to be working with the Legislature,” he added later. “I don’t think he’s had a chance to discuss with them.”
Republicans control both legislative chambers in Florida. The leaders of the chambers do not appear to have commented publicly on the announcement, and they did not respond to requests for comment.
State Sen. Lori Berman, the top Democrat in the Florida Senate, said in a statement that she believes that Florida’s existing exemptions on religious and medical grounds to vaccine requirements are sufficient.
“As a member of the Senate Health Policy Committee, I’ll be doing everything in my power to protect our kids from these reckless attempts to harm them,” she said.
All 50 states have vaccine mandates for schoolchildren, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, although Idaho’s governor earlier this year signed legislation that banned schools from requiring students to receive vaccines.
Some Western countries, including the UK and Sweden, do not have vaccine mandates for schools.
Supporters of the announcement included the Independent Medical Alliance, which said in a statement, “Parents should always have the right to choose what’s best for their children and families.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics was among the detractors. It said it is concerned that the announced changes “will put children in Florida public schools at higher risk for getting sick, and have ripple effects across their community.”
Ladapo said he was aware that arguments against eliminating mandates included protecting children with compromised immune systems.
“There’s no ethical basis for that to be used as a reason, really a force, to take away your ability to choose what you put in your body and what you, as a parent, put in your child’s body,” he said.