TALLAHASSEE \u2014 Florida\u2019s Legislature won\u2019t change the state\u2018s vaccine laws this session.<\/p>\n
Although the Florida Senate is set to pass legislation that would make it easier to opt out of vaccines<\/a> that are required for school, House Speaker Daniel Perez on Wednesday confirmed the bill would not move forward in his chamber.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a bill that wasn\u2019t heard in the House,\u201d Perez said. \u201cA bill that hasn\u2019t moved in the House is not going to be brought up at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Jeff Holcomb, R-Spring Hill, filed legislation that was milder than what Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo suggested when he proposed removing all vaccine mandates<\/a> from law last year.<\/p>\n The bills proposed keeping vaccine mandates, but would let parents easily access exemption forms andlet them opt their children out of required shots based on their conscience.<\/p>\n Current law only allows exemptions for medical or religious reasons.<\/p>\n The proposed legislation also would have required health care workers to show parents information, set by the state\u2019s medical boards, about the risks, benefits, safety and efficacy of vaccines.<\/p>\n A bipartisan group of lawmakers still pushed back on the more moderate version of the bill.<\/p>\n In the House, the bill never received a committee hearing. And in the Senate, some Republican senators said the bill could threaten a parent\u2019s ability to protect their children and weaken public health.<\/p>\n Holcomb\u2019s legislation included a priority of Ladapo, Gov. Ron DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis \u2014 language that could compel physicians to see unvaccinated patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Senate bill is set for a vote Friday.<\/p>\n Despite the legislation stalling in the House this session, the Department of Health is moving forward with a plan to remove four vaccines<\/a> from state rules, which it can do unilaterally.<\/p>\n The vaccines the state no longer plans to mandate are for varicella, or chickenpox; Hepatitis B; Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib; and Pneumococcal conjugate, or PCV15\/20.<\/p>\n State law still would require vaccines for polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus.<\/p>\n