Florida is poised to become the first state in the nation to eliminate all school vaccine mandates, a move that has triggered a firestorm of debate among public health experts, educators, parents, and political leaders. The announcement, made in the first week of September 2025 by Republican state officials, has set the stage for a potential shift in how infectious diseases are managed in the Sunshine State—and possibly beyond.
At the center of the controversy is Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who declared at a Wednesday press conference, “We’re going to end it,” referring to vaccine mandates for schoolchildren. Standing alongside Governor Ron DeSantis, Ladapo argued that vaccine requirements are “immoral” and an overreach of government power. “Who am I as a government or anyone else — who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?” he asked, echoing the rhetoric of the so-called ‘medical freedom’ movement that has gained traction in Republican circles since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, Florida law mandates immunizations for diseases such as polio, diphtheria, measles, rubella, pertussis (whooping cough), mumps, and tetanus, with the Department of Health also requiring vaccines for chickenpox, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and pneumococcal conjugate. The Department, according to spokesperson Katie Young in the Miami Herald, is preparing to begin the process of lifting requirements for these four additional immunizations, a transition expected to take around 80 days once initiated.
However, not all vaccine requirements can be undone by executive action alone. “Changes from the legislature” are needed to fully reverse mandates enshrined in state law, Governor DeSantis acknowledged. The Republican-controlled legislature is scheduled to reconvene in January 2026, though a special session could be called sooner. Earlier this year, the Florida Senate passed a bill restricting the use of mRNA vaccines in fruit and vegetables—despite the fact that edible vaccines are not commercially available—and another prohibiting the release of chemicals intended to manipulate the weather, highlighting the legislature’s willingness to wade into controversial health and science policy debates.
For many in Florida’s education system, the proposed rollback is alarming. Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, called it “an issue of politics at play, not what’s best for kids.” He told The 19th, “This is clearly the governor’s political agenda, not doing what’s best for kids based on what the medical experts [say], and the overwhelming consensus in the medical field is that vaccines are important, and mandated vaccines work.”
Indeed, all 50 states and Washington, D.C., require some form of vaccination for K-12 students, with allowances for medical exemptions. These policies have been a bulwark against outbreaks of diseases like measles and mumps, which experts warn could make a comeback if immunization rates fall. Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated, “When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it is harder for diseases to spread and easier for everyone to continue learning and having fun. When children are sick and miss school, caregivers also miss work, which not only impacts those families but also the local economy.”
Florida’s vaccination rates already trail the national average, with only 88.7% of kindergarteners immunized for measles, mumps, and rubella in 2025 compared to over 92% nationwide, according to state and federal statistics. Religious exemptions have increased to 6.4% among children aged 5-17, and in some counties, that figure is as high as 15%. The state’s own “Vaccine-Preventable Disease Surveillance Report” noted rising cases of hepatitis A, chickenpox, and whooping cough as of late May 2025.
Public health experts are sounding the alarm. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, warned on CNN that Florida may “become a hotbed of transmission” if mandates are lifted. “I wouldn’t want my kids going to Florida in the years ahead, to go to Walt Disney World or any place like that,” he said. Osterholm, whose new book The Big One: Why Future Pandemics Will be Worse — and How We Must Prepare is due out next month, added, “We basically are losing all the safety nets that we had with the public health system, and vaccines are at the heart of it.”
Lynn Nelson, president of the National Association of School Nurses, echoed these concerns, calling the plan “a door to a health crisis that’s 100 percent preventable.” She emphasized that schools are mini-communities where diseases can easily spread to vulnerable populations, including infants and the elderly. “There are outbreaks all over the country right now, and they will spread in any state or community where the vaccine rate drops,” Nelson said.
The debate over vaccine mandates is not new. Such requirements date back to the 19th century and became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s. But recent years have seen a wave of legislative activity aimed at expanding exemptions and restricting mandates, fueled in part by misinformation and political polarization. Since 2021, more than 2,500 vaccine-related bills have been introduced in state legislatures, with about 400 in 2024 alone, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. During this period, vaccination rates for kindergarteners have declined nationwide.
Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emerita at the University of Arizona, has studied the impacts of vaccine exemptions. She explained, “Herd immunity protects all of us by sort of creating a bubble where we don’t have to come into contact with these diseases. It’s troubling that the right to refuse vaccines is being held up above the rest of Florida’s right to not be infected with vaccine-preventable diseases. That’s also a right. We have ‘freedom to’ and we have ‘freedom from’ and this is the destruction of ‘freedom from.’”
There are also practical concerns for Florida’s schools. As of August 2025, the state had 5,489 instructional and support staff vacancies, down from 9,842 the year before, but still significant. Many teaching positions are being filled by uncertified personnel. “All of those factors play into a role as to why teachers are not coming into the profession … We have teachers and staff who just won’t work under the conditions we have,” Spar said.
Florida’s $128 billion tourism industry could also be at risk. In 2024, the state welcomed 143 million visitors. While theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando no longer require proof of vaccination for employees, the prospect of increased disease transmission could affect perceptions of safety among tourists. The cruise industry, with a $24 billion economic impact, faces similar uncertainties.
As the DeSantis administration and state lawmakers prepare to debate the future of vaccine mandates, Florida stands at a crossroads. The outcome will not only shape public health policy in the state but could set a precedent for the rest of the country, as the balance between individual freedom and community protection is tested once again.
