PUBLIC HEALTHFlorida Plans to Scrap Kid Vaccine Mandates as HHS Employees Demand RFK Jr Resignation

In ongoing upheaval over antivaccine policies espoused by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his allies in Florida today—in a national first—announced plans to scrap requirements for school-based vaccination.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 HHS employees today released a letter Kennedy resign.

Florida Announcement Tuns Counter to Mountain of Evidence
Florida currently requires several routine childhood vaccines for daycare and preschool, as well as for elementary and secondary public school students. 

At a briefing today, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, said the state would work to eliminate all vaccine mandates, NBC News reported. He said the mandates are wrong and “drip with disdain and slavery.” He added that the Florida Department of Health will work with the Governor Ron DeSantis to unwind the policies that have been in place for many decades and are widely credited with lowering childhood illness. 

Ladapo’s announcement came a DeSantis announced the establishment of a Florida Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative that aligns with the federal MAHA efforts proposed by Kennedy. Ladapo is known for allowing parents of children with measles to decide if their unvaccinated children stay home from school during a school-based measles outbreak, which runs counter to well-accepted public health recommendations. Also, Ladapo has called for an end to the use of mRNA COVID vaccines.

Today’s announcement drew strong criticism from the public health community and comes as Kennedy’s anti-vaccine measures are prompting the firing and resignations of top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff and drawing deep concerns from some lawmakers.

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“It flies in the face of a mountain of evidence that clearly shows the benefits of vaccinating kids before they enter school, and it makes the entire state less safe to visit or live in.”

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Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and leader of the Vaccine Integrity Project, said in a statement that the reckless decision will endanger the health of Florida’s children. CIDRAP is the publisher of CIDRAP News.

“It flies in the face of a mountain of evidence that clearly shows the benefits of vaccinating kids before they enter school, and it makes the entire state less safe to visit or live in,” he said. “Every parent of a child who dies or who is hospitalized with a vaccine-preventable disease will know exactly why.”