Florida officials have moved to pull four vaccines from those required to attend school.
The Florida Department of Health has proposed a rule removing vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and pneumococcal disease from the list for students. The rule also expands religious exemptions for school vaccines.
Last year, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said the state would move to eliminate all vaccine mandates. “The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law,” he said during a press conference. “All of them.”
Ladapo asserted at the time that he does not have the right to dictate what one puts into their body. “I don’t have that right,” he said. “Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.”
“Government does not have that right,” he stated.
Florida’s effort comes as President Trump recently called for children to receive fewer vaccines as part of the “gold standard” for vaccine recommendations, although inoculations for chickenpox, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and pneumococcal disease were included as those universally recommended for children.
The vaccines recommended for all American children include those for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella, the order detailed. Vaccines for certain high-risk groups include respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY, and dengue.
Inoculations that are considered shared clinical decision-making include hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19.
