Florida will phase out all childhood vaccine mandates statewide, expanding prior efforts to limit vaccine and health requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state will create a state-level "Make America Healthy Again" commission modeled after initiatives promoted by federal Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo described current vaccine requirements as an "immoral" intrusion on rights, likening them to "slavery," and said mandates impede parents' ability to make health decisions. The Health Department can remove some rules, while other eliminations would require legislative action. Current mandated shots include measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, DTaP and polio.
Florida will work to phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the state, building on the effort by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to curb vaccine requirements and other health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. DeSantis also announced on Wednesday the creation of a state-level "Make America Healthy Again" commission modeled after similar initiatives pushed at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
"People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions," said Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment, at a news conference in Valrico, Florida, in the Tampa area. "They don't have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them." The state Health Department, Ladapo said, can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, but others would require action by the Florida Legislature.
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