By Ana Go\u00f1i-Lessan, The News Service of Florida <\/p>\n
The state of Florida wants to remove four immunizations from entry requirements for PreK-12 public and private schools.<\/p>\n
The Florida Department of Health is proposing a rule to remove Hepatitis B, varicella (chicken pox), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for public school attendance, a move that has been in play for almost a year after Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced his intent to get rid of all vaccine mandates in the state.<\/p>\n
The rule, which was approved by Ladapo on Aug. 20, has a 21-day period for public input before final approval. DOH did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n
The proposed rule also expands religious vaccine exemptions to include moral and ethical beliefs and lets parents and college students opt out of having their records included in the state vaccine database.<\/p>\n
Florida currently allows religious exemptions \u201cif immunizations are in conflict with the religious tenets and practices of the child\u2019s parent or guardian,\u201d according to DOH.<\/p>\n
Without an exemption, Florida law requires students to receive vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), polio, diphtheria, rubeola and tetanus to attend K-12 public schools.\u00a0But the immunizations considered for repeal by DOH are only an agency rule, not in state law, and can be repealed by the agency itself.<\/p>\n
Last September, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ladapo called on the Legislature to roll back all vaccine mandates in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,\u201d Ladapo said in Valrico, Hillsborough County, at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? I don\u2019t have that right. Your body is a gift from God,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In response, American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Susan Kressly said the move will put children at risk of getting sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AAP believes every family should have access to immunizations to keep their community healthy,\u201d Kressly said in a released statement. \u201cSchools are an important part of that community. For many kids, the best part of school is being with friends \u2014 sharing space, playing on the playground and trading germs. Close contact makes it easy for contagious diseases to spread quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though the move to repeal all vaccine mandates was supported by DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis and then-Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, no legislator filed a bill in any of the multiple legislative sessions in 2026 to remove those requirements from Florida law.<\/p>\n
Multiple attempts at a \u201cMedical Freedom\u201d bill that would have expanded vaccine exemptions and mandated doctors to provide an alternate vaccine schedule passed the state Senate but failed to pass the state House.<\/p>\n
In December 2025, DOH held an open meeting in Panama City to discuss changing the vaccination requirements for public schools, which Emma Spencer, a director within DOH, said was \u201cgrounded in policy based on considerations that favor parental rights and medical freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parents\u2019 rights advocates praised the state and also repeated false claims, such as vaccines cause autism, while doctors from around the state pleaded with DOH to reconsider and said it would turn back the clock on medical advancements.<\/p>\n
Eehab Kenawy, a Panama City pediatrician, said religious exemptions already exist to allow parents and guardians to opt out of vaccinations for their children.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not forced. But sending a message to the general public that vaccines are not important, vaccines are not needed, is not the way to do it,\u201d Kenawy said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ana Go\u00f1i-Lessan, The News Service of Florida The state of Florida wants to remove four immunizations from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-380698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}