Florida health officials explore overhaul of school vaccine requirements

Florida hosts workshop on ending vaccine mandates

The Florida Department of Health is holding a workshop about proposed changes to immunization requirements for schoolchildren on Friday morning.

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida’s Department of Health convened a meeting today to examine potential changes to vaccination requirements for schools and childcare facilities, along with the process families use to opt out of mandates.

What we know:

The workshop follows a call from Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo to make Florida the first state to repeal vaccine requirements for public and private schools and daycares.

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Ladapo and the Department of Health do not have the authority to eliminate mandates for all 11 vaccines required for school entry. Four of them, including Hepatitis B, varicella (chicken pox), Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which protect against serious illnesses such as meningitis, fall under the agency’s jurisdiction.

The remaining seven vaccines, including polio and MMR, are controlled by state law. Changing those requirements would need legislative action, which Governor Ron DeSantis has said he is willing to help draft.

What they're saying:

The proposal is facing significant criticism from members of the medical community who note that mass vaccination campaigns for diseases such as polio drove cases and deaths down to zero.

"It is like taking something that you know works and has worked very well for a long time and saying you are throwing it away because we do not have to deal with the problem anymore, because the problem is not here. The problem is not here because we had this really effective school immunization mandate," explained USF Immunologist Dr. Michael Teng. "The reason that we do not see measles, mumps, rubella, and polio anymore is because of these immunization mandates."

The backstory:

Immunization requirements have existed in all 50 states since the 1980s. Florida already offers medical and religious exemptions, and the number of families using those exemptions has climbed in recent years.

The state’s religious exemption rate has more than doubled over the past seven years. Some counties now report vaccine exemptions for more than 15 percent of school-aged children. The Department of Health notes this is likely an undercount of true vaccination rates.

What's next:

Today’s meeting is not expected to lead to an immediate vote. Instead, it marks the first step in the rulemaking process.