eliminating four vaccines<\/a>. <\/p>\nThe proposal would eliminate school entry requirements for vaccines against hepatitis B, chickenpox, Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal disease. Other vaccinations required under state law would remain in place. <\/p>\n
The change is part of a broader effort by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo to eliminate vaccine mandates in Florida. <\/p>\n
\u201cParents should have the ability and the power to decide what goes into their children\u2019s bodies,\u201d Ladapo said. <\/p>\n
Dr. Scott Rivkees, a pediatrician, former Florida surgeon general and health secretary, warned that removing the requirements could place children, their families and the wider community at risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you start peeling back these vaccines, which are not simple diseases \u2014 these are very serious \u2014 it not only makes children at risk, but also makes other people in the family at risk and makes the general population at risk for these vaccine-preventable illnesses,\u201d Rivkees said. <\/p>\n
Rivkees said the consequences could become clear if vaccination rates fall and preventable diseases spread. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we start seeing children getting ill, friends and neighbors getting hospitalized, people are going to say, \u2018What are we doing here?\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The proposal would also broaden exemptions based on religious beliefs to include “moral” or “ethical” objections. <\/p>\n
Another provision would allow college and university students ages 18 through 23 who receive vaccinations at campus health centers or clinics to decline participation in Florida SHOTS, the state\u2019s immunization registry. <\/p>\n
Opponents of the changes say vaccines are a critical tool for preventing serious illnesses and keeping children out of hospitals. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how to keep children safe,\u201d Rivkees said. \u201cWe know how to keep children out of the hospital. We know how to keep communities safe. And this is such an incredibly important pillar.\u201d <\/p>\n
The state has opened a 21-day public comment period on the proposal. Comments must be submitted by Sept. 14. <\/p>\n
After the comment period closes, the proposal will require final approval before it can take effect. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida proposal would remove 4 vaccines from school entry requirements TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 The Florida Department of Health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1830,2353,1089,28,7877,30,29,152900,152905,571,85784,152903,12876,152902,152901,26625,17203,152904],"class_list":["post-381020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-change","tag-child","tag-family","tag-florida","tag-florida-department","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-proposal","tag-haemophilus","tag-health","tag-other-people","tag-other-vaccination","tag-risk","tag-rivkees","tag-school-entry-requirement","tag-state-law","tag-vaccine","tag-wide-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381020","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=381020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Adriana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d6a1d336-bb2b-4cfa-a90f-269c269587eb_1784654340.file.png\")
<\/a>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n