Overview
- Governor Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced an effort to eliminate all childhood vaccination requirements, including school-entry rules, framing the shift as parental and medical freedom.
- Officials said the Department of Health can rescind some requirements administratively, but others would need approval by the Florida Legislature, and no implementation timeline was provided.
- DeSantis created the Make America Healthy Again commission to review public‑health policies and said its recommendations will feed a “medical freedom” package for the next legislative session.
- Ladapo compared vaccine mandates to slavery and called them an intrusion on families, a stance that drew immediate pushback from physicians and public‑health experts.
- The AMA and AAP warned the rollback would raise risks for diseases such as measles, polio and varicella, noting 1,431 U.S. measles cases and three deaths this year, as Florida’s move unfolds alongside federal policy shifts under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CDC upheaval.