DeSantis Sends Vaccine-Exemption Bill to Special Session as Measles Cases Rise

Overview

• Gov. Ron DeSantis placed SB 6D on the special-session agenda, and the Senate Rules Committee is set to hear it after a similar bill passed the Senate in the regular session but died in the House.
• The measure keeps school-entry vaccine requirements on paper yet adds a new path for parents to opt out based on personal conscience.
• The bill also authorizes pharmacies to sell ivermectin without a prescription at the counter and protects pharmacists and pharmacies from related lawsuits.
• House Speaker Daniel Perez signaled reluctance to relax vaccine rules during a measles outbreak, and Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell filed an amendment to require a no-cost consult with a clinician before any nonmedical opt-out.
• Physician groups warn broader exemptions would lower vaccination rates, noting the CDC counts 134 Florida measles cases this year and KFF reports MMR coverage at 88.8%, below the 95% level often cited to block spread.