State vaccine mandate repeal fuels debate

Over objections from pediatricians and infectious-disease specialists, Florida health officials on Friday took initial steps toward eliminating some vaccine requirements for schoolchildren.

Doctors and educators criticized the proposal during a Department of Health workshop in Panama City Beach, warning it could reverse decades of public-health progress. Meanwhile, vaccine skeptics praised Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for advancing the plan.

The proposal would remove vaccination requirements for hepatitis B; varicella, commonly known as chickenpox; Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), which can cause meningitis; and pneumococcal conjugate, which can cause pneumonia and meningitis. Vaccines required by state law — including polio, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, mumps and tetanus — would remain in place unless changed by the Legislature.

DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced the plan in September. Because the vaccines targeted Friday are governed by administrative rules, the Department of Health can change them through rulemaking. Ladapo has said he intends to work with lawmakers to eliminate remaining requirements set in statute.

Most health professionals who spoke Friday strongly opposed the proposal, saying it would put children at risk and undermine herd immunity.

“I want to make this clear and loud,” said Panama City pediatrician Eehab Kenawy. “Just in the past six months, we’ve had two patients in the ICU with Hib. One child, unfortunately, died at four months of age. No vaccines.”

Kenawy also described a two-year-old who was unvaccinated and arrived at the hospital with brain abscesses and seizures.

Religious exemptions already allow parents to opt out of vaccines, Kenawy noted, but he said the proposal sends the wrong message.

“You’re not forced,” he said. “But telling the public vaccines aren’t important is not the way to do it.”

Opposition to vaccine mandates has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, with DeSantis and Ladapo among the most vocal critics. Ladapo said in September he wants to eliminate all school vaccine requirements.

“All of them,” Ladapo said. “Every last one of them is wrong.”

The proposal also would expand exemptions beyond religious grounds to include “a sincerely held moral or ethical belief.” It would allow parents, guardians and college students ages 18 to 23 to opt out of Florida SHOTS, the state’s vaccination database.

Emma Spencer, a Department of Health division director, said the proposed changes are grounded in parental rights and medical freedom, not medical consensus.

Several physicians urged officials to abandon the plan. Paul Arons, a Tallahassee family medicine doctor and former Department of Health official, said he was “alarmed” by the direction of the proposal.

“Removing these rules sets in motion the dismantling of a successful lifesaving public-health system,” Arons said.

Supporters of the proposal included Susan Sweetin of the National Vaccine Information Center, who said her son was injured by a vaccine and criticized schools and doctors for pressuring parents.

“Vaccines should never be tied to a child’s education,” Sweetin said.

University of Florida pediatrician Michael Haller submitted formal objections on behalf of the College of Medicine Faculty Council, warning that weakening vaccine requirements predictably leads to disease outbreaks.

“When vaccination rates fall, herd immunity is lost,” Haller said. “And when herd immunity is lost, we see the return of serious and sometimes fatal diseases.”

The Department of Health will accept public comments on the proposal until Dec. 22.

State vaccine mandate repeal fuels debate

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