“ Dream and dangerous ”: Florida to eliminate infant vaccination mandates in schools

Florida plans to become the first state to eliminate the mandates of vaccines which have been the cornerstone of public health policy for decades to keep schoolchildren and adults away from infectious diseases.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s general surgeon, who announced the decision on Wednesday, demanded current requirements in schools and elsewhere as “immoral” intrusions on the rights of people who hinder parents to make health decisions for their children.

“People have the right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” said Ladapo, who frequently faced the medical establishment at a press conference in Valrico. “They are not allowed to tell you what to put in your body. Remove it from them.”

Groups of doctors and other health organizations have long considered that vaccines are safe and the most effective way to stop the spread of transmitted diseases, especially in schoolchildren.

Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics Florida section, said the abolition of vaccines puts students and school staff more at risk.

“When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it is more difficult for diseases to spread and more easily for everyone to continue to learn and have fun,” said Alissa in an email. “When children are sick and lack school, caregivers also lack work, which has an impact not only on these families but also the local economy.”

The representative of the Democratic State, Anna Eskamani, who presents himself for the mayor of Orlando, said in an article on social networks that the implementation of vaccines “is reckless and dangerous” and could cause epidemics of avoidable diseases.

“This is a public health disaster in the creation of the state of Sunshine,” said Eskamani on the social platform X.

In Florida, vaccination mandates for childcare facilities for children and public schools include plans for measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, Diphterian-feet-acellular, polio and other diseases, according to the website of the State Health Department.

The department, said Ladapo, can remove its own rules for certain vaccine mandates, but others would require the action of the Florida legislature. He did not specify any particular vaccine but repeated several times, the effort would end “all. Each last of them”.

“Disassembly of public health”

This decision comes as the Trump administration is trying to restructure and reduce the workforce of anti-vaccine policies for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in advance defended by the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who are contradicted by decades of scientific research.

The increase in anti-vaccine feeling has coincided with a measles resurgence in the United States, with more than 1,400 cases recorded so far nationally, according to the CDC, the largest number of annual cases in more than 30 years.

Democratic governors of Washington, Oregon and California announced on Wednesday that they have created an alliance to protect health policies, saying that the administration politicizes public health decisions.

The partnership plans to coordinate health directives by aligning vaccination plans according to the recommendations of national medical organizations respected, according to a joint declaration by Governor Bob Ferguson of Washington, Governor Tina Kotek of Oregon and Governor Gavin Newsom of California.

“The dismantling of public health and the dismissal of experienced and respected health advisers and health advisers, as well as the lack of use of science, data and evidence to improve the health of our country are putting lives in danger,” said Erica Pan, Health of Health of the State of California, in the press release.

Other attempts by scientists and health experts to combat public health erosion in the United States have been successful this week. On Wednesday, the United States Ministry of Health and Social Services agreed to restore web pages and health and science data as part of a prosecution regulation with groups of doctors and other organizations that have continued.

The Washington State Medical Association, as well as other groups, had continued after federal health officials deleted or deleted information on a range of subjects, including the risk of pregnancy, the disorder of opioid consumption and the AIDS epidemic in response to a Trump decree which told agencies to stop using the term “gender” in federal policies and documents.

It was a “blatant example of government surpassing,” said Dr. John Bramhall, president of the organization, in a statement.

According to the Washington State Medical Association, more than 100 websites and resources will be restored in the state in which they were.

Under the Republican Governor Ron Desantis, Florida resisted the imposing vaccine coded to schoolchildren during the pandemic, requiring “passports” for places that attract crowds, as well as closings and school mandates that workers get the blows to keep their jobs.

“I don’t think there is another state that is as much as Florida. We want to stay ahead of the curve,” said the governor.

DESANTIS also announced on Wednesday the creation of a state commission “Make America Healthy Again” in the mode after similar initiatives established at the federal level by Kennedy.

The Commission would examine things such as allowing informed consent in medical matters, promoting safe and nutritious foods, stimulating parents’ rights in medical decisions concerning their children and eliminating what Desantis called “medical orthodoxy which is not supported by data”. The commission will be chaired by Lieutenant-Governor Jay Collins and the first lady of Florida Casey Desantis.