People can’t believe Florida wants to get rid of every single school vaccine requirement
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced plans this week to eliminate all vaccine mandates for children in public schools, a move that would roll back decades of immunization requirements against illnesses like polio and measles.
Public health advocates warn the decision could open the door to outbreaks of once-contained diseases, while critics note the contradiction between the state’s stance on “bodily autonomy” and its strict abortion and gender-affirming care laws.
Florida to roll back all vaccine mandates
At a Wednesday press conference, Ladapo announced his intention to eliminate public school vaccine mandates for the state. This will end requirements for kids to be immunized against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and Hepatitis B.
In his speech, Ladapo evoked the right to bodily autonomy and slavery.
“All of them,” he said in reference to how many vaccine requirements he wanted to ban. “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.”
“Who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?”
This announcement raised concerns about what might go into the bodies of millions of children, including those who can’t get vaccinated even if they want to because of immune system issues. According to the World Health Organization, vaccines have saved over 154 million lives globally within the past 50 years.
Spreading anti-vaccine sentiments, meanwhile, has led to measles outbreaks in multiple U.S. states, where the virus was previously nearly eradicated thanks to immunization efforts. According to the Miami Herald, the number of kids up-to-date on their vaccines in Florida fell to an all-time low of 88 percent in 2024—too low to stop outbreaks of this dangerous illness.
Internet calls out hypocrisy on "bodily autonomy"
Pro-vaccine folks leapt to air their objections online, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
"Florida's Surgeon General is dead wrong. Requiring children to get vaccinated to prevent measles, mumps & polio is not akin to 'slavery,'" he wrote on X. "Over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved millions of lives & reduced the infant mortality rate by 40%."
"Vaccines save lives — period."
"The point of vaccine mandates is herd immunity and protection of the people who actually cannot get vaccines," said urologist @AshleyGWinter. "It seems tragic that the health officials in Florida cannot understand this."
Others took issue with the idea that the Florida government doesn't want to tell people what to do with their bodies, citing the state's laws on abortion and gender affirming care.
"So Florida with their abortion ban is getting rid of vaccine mandates to give people the freedom to make decisions about their bodies??????????" asked @covie_93.
"Our government supports my right to put the smallpox virus in your body but not my right to put estrogen in my own body," Bluesky user @forbiddenqt.bsky.social pointed out.
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