President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Sept. 5 that some vaccines that are “not controversial” should be used, in response to a question about Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s Sept. 3 announcement that he is working to eliminate all vaccine mandates from state law.
“Look, you have some vaccines that are so amazing. The polio vaccine I happen to think is amazing,” Trump said, adding that he thinks the COVID vaccine “is amazing.”
“I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated. It’s a very tough position,” he added.
Trump continued by saying that “you have vaccines that work.”
“I think those vaccines should be used. Otherwise, some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people,” he said.
He added, “When you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take it.”
Florida would become the first state to eliminate all vaccine mandates if Ladapo’s plan becomes law.
The District of Columbia and 29 states permit exemptions on religious grounds, while 14 states allow exemptions for religious, personal, or philosophical objections.
Louisiana and Minnesota do not specify if a student’s nonmedical exemption must be for religious or personal reasons.
Medical exemptions are permitted in all 50 states. Five states do not allow exemptions for any nonmedical reason.
In Massachusetts, a proposed bill would remove non-medical exemptions—including those for religious and philosophical beliefs—for vaccination requirements to attend public schools.
California, Connecticut, Maine, and New York have removed such exemptions over the past decade to increase vaccination rates.
“The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law,” Ladapo said at the Sept. 3 press conference. “All of them,” he said.
“Every last one is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.
“Who am I, as a government, or anyone else, or 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 their body?
“I don’t have that right. Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.”
Ladapo said that he believes neither he nor the government has the right to force vaccines upon people and encouraged individuals to reclaim that power and make their own informed decisions.
Some medical professionals and Democratic elected officials expressed concern about Ladapo’s announcement.
Dr. Rana Alissa, who is chair of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said removing vaccines places students and school staff at 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. “When children are sick and miss school, caregivers also miss work, which not only impacts those families but also the local economy.”
Florida Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani is running for Orlando mayor. She said in a post on X that eliminating vaccine mandates is “reckless and dangerous” and could lead to outbreaks of preventable disease.
“This is a public health disaster in the making for the Sunshine State,” Eskamani wrote.
Ladapo held his press conference as DeSantis announced the establishment of the state’s Make America Healthy Again Commission and Medical Freedom Protections.
The commission will be chaired by his wife, Casey DeSantis.
A day after Ladapo’s announcement, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights letter stated that participants in a federally funded children’s vaccination program nationwide must honor religious and conscience exemptions from vaccine mandates.
The Vaccines for Children Program (VCP) provides vaccines to children whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“States have the authority to balance public health goals with individual freedom, and honoring those decisions builds trust,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement.
T.J. Muscaro and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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