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<\/a>\nLadapo holds public meeting to discuss ending vaccine mandates<\/p>\n
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo held the first of several public meetings about ending Florida vaccine mandates Friday in Panama City.<\/p>\n
This meeting only served as a forum for the public. There wasn\u2019t a vote, and no decisions were made.<\/p>\n
Despite that, the effort to roll back mandates is underway.<\/p>\n
Florida could soon become the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates from statutes, including those required to attend school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about freedom,”\u00a0Florida resident Larry Downs Jr. said. “The default setting should be freedom, not these corporate chemical vaccine injections.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts and concerned citizens came to share their comments on the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very sad to hear the distrust of physicians in the medical community,” said Dr. Frederick\u00a0Southwick, an infectious disease specialist at\u00a0UF\u00a0Health. “We only have our patients\u2019 welfare in mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The effort comes at the call of state leaders, especially Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ladapo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law,” Ladapo said. “All of them. All of them. Every last one of them.”<\/p>\n
Florida lawmakers must pass a bill in order for any ban to happen.<\/p>\n
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at around 88%, kindergarten vaccination rates are on the decline in Florida.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the national average is 93%.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s ending vaccine mandates,” Rana Alissa from the American Academy of Pediatrics said. “Tomorrow insurance won\u2019t pay for the vaccines. The day after tomorrow, clinics cannot have the vaccines. So this is this is just the beginning.”<\/p>\n
Under the current framework, there are two ways to get a vaccine exemption in Florida \u2014 people can get a religious exemption, or a letter from a doctor saying the vaccine isn\u2019t in the patient\u2019s best medical interest.<\/p>\n
Days ahead of a deadline for the Justice Department to release records from its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Democrats shared more images from the House Oversight Committee\u2019s separate investigation into the disgraced financier \u2014 this time depicting some of the world\u2019s most powerful men.\u00a0<\/p>\n