Kas Miller: Florida parents must speak up on school vaccine rules

Sep 8

By Kas Miller

I'm a Florida mom. I do not spend my free time reading the Florida Administrative Code & Register. I'm guessing most parents don't. But something showed up there this week that every Florida parent should know about.

The Florida Department of Health has formally proposed changing our state's school vaccine rules. The proposal would remove hepatitis B, varicella, Hib and pneumococcal vaccines from the requirements for children entering PreK-12 schools. It would also broaden Florida's religious exemption language to include "moral" or "ethical" beliefs and make changes to participation in the state immunization registry.

Because these protections are established through administrative rule, they can be changed without another vote of the Legislature. The vaccine debate Florida families followed at the Capitol has now moved to a much less visible administrative process.

Holly Hohmeister

Kas Miller: Florida parents must speak up on school vaccine rules

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