Florida moves to end certain school vaccination requirements

The state of Florida wants to roll back a requirement that public and private school children receive four vaccines before enrolling.

A proposed rule from the state’s Health Department would allow students to attend school and enroll in daycare without first receiving hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox), Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.

The proposal would also broaden religious objections to vaccinations, allowing parents to opt-out for any moral or ethical beliefs. Parents and college students could also object to having their information shared with a statewide vaccination database.

Florida currently allows religious exemptions “if immunizations are in conflict with the religious tenets and practices of the child’s parent or guardian,” according to the state’s Health Department.

The proposal comes almost a year after Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, first announced his intent to eliminate vaccine requirements in the Sunshine State. He did not specify any specific vaccines at the time but said he would end “all of them.”

“Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo, a longtime vaccine skeptic, said.

The proposed rule is not the first time the state has tried to loosen vaccine requirements.

Last month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) warned private Catholic schools they needed to allow religious exemptions from vaccine requirements as required by state law, otherwise they could be disqualified from scholarships and vouchers.

“As a Catholic, I am confident that the teachings of the Catholic Church do not require Catholic schools to compel students to take vaccines derived from the tissue of aborted children,” Uthmeier wrote to the state’s Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In a letter to Uthmeier dated Aug. 7, the bishops made it clear there is no religious reason for parents to opt out of vaccinating their children.

Their position is rooted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that “life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God.”

The bishops told Uthmeier they are the ones who decide how to interpret Catholic principles and theology, not the government. Attempting to force the schools to adopt the government’s position is a violation of their religious liberty.

“Any insinuation that a government official can dictate to the Catholic Church (or any religion) how to apply her tenets and dogma, violates well-established constitutional religious freedom rights,” wrote Michael B. Sheedy, the organization’s executive director.

“We are prepared to protect our students, defend our rights, and preserve religious freedom,” he wrote.

By law, Florida requires students be vaccinated against polio, diphtheria, measles, rubella, pertussis, mumps, tetanus “and other communicable diseases as determined by rules of the Department of Health.”

The vaccines in question were required under the Health Department’s rule, so the agency is attempting another rule to change the requirement. The requirements for the other vaccines would need to be changed by the Legislature, and no bills have been introduced to do so.

The proposed rule was published Monday and is open for public comment through Sept. 14.

It was released one day after Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), the state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate, said on “Face the Nation” he’d like to “study” and “really engage” before making a decision about school requirements for polio and measles.

The U.S. has recorded the most measles infections in 35 years, amid declining vaccination rates. Florida has 142 reported measles cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

When more than 95 percent of people in a community are vaccinated against measles, most people are protected through herd immunity. Florida has only an 88.9 percent vaccination rate, according to CDC data.

In the same interview Sunday, Donalds also claimed without evidence the reason for the surge in measles in certain parts of the country is because of “rampant illegal immigration.”

Florida’s moves come as the Trump administration seeks to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule to reduce and space out recommended childhood vaccines — an effort that most pediatricians have decried as dangerous.

Physicians and other health experts have long supported school vaccination requirements as a way of stopping the spread of infectious diseases among children and their communities by contributing to herd immunity.

When asked about Florida’s plan to roll back the requirements last year, President Trump told reporters that some vaccines “ just pure and simple work .”

“I think we have to be very careful. You have some vaccines that are so amazing,” Trump said, citing the polio vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed during his first term.