Florida moves toward eliminating 4 vaccine mandates, expanding exemption
By Romy Ellenbogen, Tampa Bay Times The Tribune Content Agency
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday took a step toward eliminating four childhood vaccine mandates - a move the department can take without the Legislature's sign-off or the governor's signature. The proposal, which was debated during a Friday workshop in Panama City Beach, is the first tangible step in Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo's plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates in Florida.
Florida statute requires vaccinations for diseases like polio, measles and tetanus. Changing those requirements takes the Legislature's action. But the Department of Health has for years required four additional vaccines for school attendance: Varicella, or chickenpox; Hepatitis B; Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib; and Pneumococcal conjugate, or PCV15/20. At Friday's meeting, a panel from the Department of Health heard a mixed response from the public about the state's plan to strike those four vaccine mandates.