Every state and D.C. require certain vaccinations for school and childcare attendance — policies rooted in decades of public health practice to curb infectious disease. Since last summer, Florida’s leaders have sought to be the first state to roll back some of those requirements, advancing anti-vaccine rhetoric and efforts to change laws and regulations. By March, the push had largely stalled. But Governor Ron DeSantis called a special legislative session on April 15 that runs through Friday with three agenda items: congressional redistricting, potential AI protections, and so-called “medical freedom” around vaccines.
The outcome in Florida could signal how similar efforts fare elsewhere. An Associated Press analysis found at least 350 anti-vaccine bills were introduced in state legislatures last year, many aimed at loosening school vaccine requirements.
On Sept. 3, DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced the state would work to end all vaccine mandates in law. Ladapo called mandates “wrong” and said they “drip with disdain and slavery,” asking, “Who am I, as a government, or anyone else — or who am I, as a man standing here, to tell you what you should put in your body?”
With DeSantis term-limited and the midterm elections approaching, the push is tied to political considerations. Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, said Republicans are cautious given electoral dynamics. Kelly Whitener, an associate research professor of health policy at Georgetown, noted that many bills are introduced but do not pass, and that vocal minority views on vaccines often don’t reflect broader public opinion.
Ladapo hasn’t responded to interview requests. His social posts have focused on topics such as healthy eating, testing candy and baby formula for toxins, and pesticide use in agriculture.
Unwinding mandates in Florida would require legislative changes for some vaccines, while four childhood vaccines — for meningitis, chickenpox and hepatitis B among them — are set by state health department regulation. The health department hosted a Dec. 12 forum in Panama City where public comment lasted for hours. Speakers in favor of ending mandates framed it as a matter of personal freedom; opponents cited the harms of vaccine-preventable disease.
At the forum, Larry Downs Jr. said, “This is about freedom. The default setting should be freedom, not these corporate chemical vaccine injections.” Teacher Marion Fesmire, who has worked overseas, urged keeping requirements, recounting experiences with polio, blindness and child deaths. Jamie Schanbaum, who lost limbs after contracting meningitis in college, spoke in support of mandates. Overall, speakers who wanted to retain mandates slightly outnumbered opponents.
Since that hearing, the health department hasn’t held more forums and has not filed the rulemaking paperwork needed to change vaccination rules, including the required statement of regulatory costs estimating potential economic impacts. When NPR asked for an update, the Florida Department of Health said it is “currently in the rulemaking process” and will post updates in the Florida Administrative Register.
Legislatively, progress was limited during the regular session. SB 1756 did not eliminate mandates but created a new “personal conscience” exemption alongside existing medical and religious exemptions; similar exemptions exist in 17 states. Democrats opposed the bill, and some Republicans raised concerns over measles outbreaks — Florida has the fourth-highest number of measles cases this year, with more than 140 reported.
The bill also contained a permanent ban on mandates for any mRNA-based vaccines and provisions to allow over-the-counter sales of ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that became a controversial alternative COVID-19 treatment. Florida’s former surgeon general, Scott Rivkees, condemned that approach, likening it to “walking into a pharmacy and requesting amoxicillin for a self-diagnosed infection.”
A House version of the “medical freedom” bill, which would have allowed the Department of Health to discipline providers who refused to treat unvaccinated patients, never reached committee and died.
National polling suggests broad parental support for school vaccine requirements. A KFF/Washington Post survey found 81% of parents back school vaccine mandates, including many in Florida, according to KFF’s Jen Kates.
Special sessions are unpredictable, and both sides view Florida’s debate as ongoing. Mistrust of medical institutions heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Barbara Loe Fisher, an anti-vaccine activist active since 1982, said skepticism of public health policy is unlikely to disappear and may grow.
This story was reported as part of NPR’s health reporting partnership with WUSF and KFF Health News.