LAKE MARY, Fla. \u2013 The Florida Department of Health heard hours of public comment from parents\u2019 rights advocates and health care professionals on Thursday about the agency\u2019s move to repeal four vaccines required to enroll in state schools.<\/p>\n
The hearing, held Thursday morning in Lake Mary, saw activists praise DOH for the proposal, while doctors and other health care professionals heavily criticized the move, which has been in the works for more than a year.<\/p>\n
DOH wants to remove the immunization requirements for Hepatitis B, varicella (chicken pox), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate to attend Florida schools. The requirements are an agency rule, not in state law, and can be repealed by the agency itself.<\/p>\n
Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said the decision would improve parents\u2019 rights in Florida, which would then benefit the overall health of the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cA public health system where parents are actively making decisions and choices about their health, about the health of their children, rather than just going along with something because they don\u2019t feel like they have a choice, leads to a much stronger public health system,\u201d Ladapo said. <\/p>\n
Several Florida residents traveled to the meeting to voice their support for Ladapo and the vaccine repeal, thanking him for standing up for parents\u2019 rights and even asking him for a selfie.<\/p>\n
The day before, Ladapo\u2019s wife, Brianna, asked anti-vaccine mandate supporters on social media to come to the meeting to \u201csupport medical freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve ever said, \u2018Thank God for Dr. Ladapo,\u2019 please walk the talk and stand with us this week,\u201d she wrote in a post on X. \u201cBring your family. Bring friends. Share this everywhere. Fill the room. There will be an opportunity to come together with Joe and his team to thank them personally and take pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporters of the rule change also spoke against the COVID vaccine and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR), repeating unfounded claims, such as that doctors make money from vaccines and that vaccines cause autism. The vaccines for MMR, polio, diphtheria, rubeola and tetanus are required by state law to attend K-12 public schools, so repealing those requirements would take an act of the Legislature.<\/p>\n
Health care professionals and parents of immunocompromised children, however, warned Ladapo and the DOH officials of the effects repealing the vaccine mandates would have on children in Florida.<\/p>\n
Dr. Sarah Nosal, president of the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians, urged the department to reconsider.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeakening school entry requirements sends a message that these vaccines are no longer important,\u201d she said. \u201cThese four vaccines were not selected because the evidence changed. They are still vital to protect children\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Brandon Chatani, the vice president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said he was not satisfied with the lack of \u201cadequate scientific answers\u201d from DOH.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge you to consider the children who do not have a choice in their immune status,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir safety depends on the decision you make here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, DOH dropped its attempt to expand exemptions for the immunization requirements, and struck the words \u201csincerely held moral or ethical belief\u201d from the proposed rule change. The exemptions currently in place must be based on religious tenets and practices.<\/p>\n
The move to repeal all vaccine mandates, announced over a year ago by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ladapo, is supported by the governor, First Lady Casey DeSantis and former-Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, but no legislator filed a bill in any of the multiple legislative sessions in 2026 to remove all requirements.<\/p>\n
Attempts to pass a \u201cMedical Freedom\u201d bill that would have expanded vaccine exemptions and mandated doctors to provide an alternate vaccine schedule did pass the state Senate, but failed to pass the state House.<\/p>\n