By Julie Steenhuysen and Michael Erman
CHICAGO (Reuters) -Florida’s plan to eliminate vaccine mandates would make inoculations optional for several million school-age children and college students, a move that disease experts said will accelerate declining immunization rates and put more people at risk of diseases such as measles across the country.
For entry to kindergarten through grade 12 public and private schools, the state requires immunization against measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, pertussis and other illnesses that were once commonplace before vaccines became available. There were about 3.5 million school-age children in Florida in 2023, according to state data.
Florida also requires proof of vaccination for entry into daycare centers. College students in Florida who live in on-campus housing must show proof of vaccination against meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B, according to Florida statutes.
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced the decision on Wednesday, which will likely require new legislation. It is not clear when it might be implemented or how the removal of state mandates might affect some private institutions, such as nursing homes and hospitals.
There are more than 70,000 people in nursing homes in Florida, according to the Florida Health Care Association.
“Eliminating mandates not only affects Florida but also puts the domestic health security for the other 49 states at risk,” said Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University and former director of the U.S. National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Physician groups warned that if Florida drops its mandates, it will jeopardize vulnerable adults and children who travel to the state, who could then spark outbreaks in their home states and beyond. An estimated record 143 million tourists from around the world visited the state in 2024, Florida statistics show.
Experts say school requirements ensure that vaccination remains a high priority for busy parents.
“If you’re not requiring vaccines for children to register for school, you are also losing a population where they may not be against vaccines… but it falls to the wayside,” said Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida.
Florida grants vaccine exemptions for religious reasons, which must be certified by local health departments, and either temporary or permanent medical exemptions certified by physicians for children who cannot be fully vaccinated prior to school entry, according to the state health department website.
For the 2024-2025 school year, about 5.1% of Florida kindergarten students were exempted from one or more vaccines, or about 11,287 children, according to CDC data. That compares with the national exemption rate of 3.6% last year, the highest to date, driven largely by non-medical exemptions, according to an analysis by health policy nonprofit KFF.
There are 17 U.S. states in which more than 5% of kindergarten students received vaccine exemptions last year, including Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and Utah. In absolute numbers, Florida’s exemptions are second only to Texas.
‘COULD BE CATASTROPHIC’
In addition to protecting the individuals who receive vaccines, widespread vaccination in a community safeguards infants who are too young for the shots as well as people whose health conditions prevent them from being vaccinated.
“Any efforts to end vaccine mandates, including for school children, strips away safeguards that shield our most vulnerable from preventable diseases,” the American Academy of Family Physicians said of Florida’s announcement.
In particular, childhood immunizations, such as the DTaP vaccine to prevent whooping cough and MMR vaccine to prevent measles, mumps and rubella, protect communities from outbreaks that cause severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths.
“Infectious diseases can quickly cross state lines. With Florida offering some of the most popular vacation destinations in the nation, the ramifications from this decision could be catastrophic,” the American Lung Association said.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Additional Reporting by Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill Berkrot)
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