Florida surgeon general says state will eliminate all vaccine mandates

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said Wednesday that the state will work to eliminate all vaccine mandates, a move that drew condemnation from public health experts.

“All of them. All of them,” Ladapo said during a news conference as the crowd stood and erupted in applause. “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery." He said the Florida Department of Health will work in partnership with the governor.

He said forcing vaccine mandates is “wrong” and “immoral.”

"Who am I as a government or anyone else, who am I as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body? Lapado said. "Who am I to tell you what your child should put in [their] body? I don’t have that right.”

Florida requires current vaccinations for students going to public school. Those requirements are outlined on the Florida Health website.

The state is not banning vaccinations.

“You want to put whatever different vaccines in your body, God bless you. I hope you make an informed decision,” Ladapo said. “You don’t want to put whatever vaccines in your body, God bless you. I hope you make an informed decision. That’s how it should be.”

Dr. Robert Malone, whom Kennedy recently appointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent vaccine advisory committee, wrote on X that he had spoken with Ladapo on Tuesday, calling him “a measured scientist who is on fire to change the system for the better.” As a member of the advisory committee, Malone is instrumental in making recommendations to the CDC about who should get certain vaccines. He has been vocally critical of vaccines.

“The idea that children would be allowed to go to school unvaccinated is absolutely frightening,” said Dr. Richard Besser, a former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Dr. Susan Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, emphasized the importance of childhood vaccines in a statement.

“We are concerned that today’s announcement by Gov. DeSantis will put children in Florida public schools at higher risk for getting sick, and have ripple effects across their community,” Kressly said.

Ladapo has railed against vaccines in Florida in the past, saying that people under 65 shouldn't get an mRNA Covid vaccine, at the time contradicting guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And during a 2024 measles outbreak in the state, he said that parents should watch for measles symptoms but could make their own decision about whether to send children to school. He did not encourage vaccination.

Ladapo's announcement came as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed the establishment of the Florida Make America Healthy Again commission, which will recommend state-level integration of President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again effort.

The commission will be chaired by first lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. Ladapo, Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris and Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch will also be members of the commission.

"The Florida MAHA commission will prioritize reforms that empower Floridians, reduce regulatory burdens and hold actors accountable for their conduct, while fostering incentives for healthy living and innovation," the governor said.