Florida surgeon general says decision to end school vaccine requirements wasn't based on data

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CBS News

HEALTHWATCH
Florida surgeon general says decision to end school vaccine requirements wasn't based on data

By Dr. Céline Gounder
Edited By Paula Cohen
September 8, 2025 / 3:50 PM EDT / CBS News

Florida's top health official said last week that the state will start dismantling school vaccine mandates, something no other state has done in modern U.S. history. On Sunday, in a CNN interview with Jake Tapper, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo confirmed that his department did no data analysis or projections on how the change could affect outbreaks of diseases like measles, polio or whooping cough.

When Tapper pressed him, Ladapo said he didn't think modeling was needed. "Ultimately, this is an issue very clearly of parents' rights," he said. "So do I need to analyze whether it's appropriate for parents to be able to decide what goes into their [child's body]? I don't need to do an analysis on that."

The rollback, announced on Sept. 3, starts with rule changes that drop vaccine requirements for hepatitis B and chickenpox. Other vaccines — like those for measles, polio and whooping cough (pertussis) — are written into state law, so lawmakers would have to vote to remove them. Ladapo said he also wants those gone, calling vaccine rules a violation of "bodily autonomy."

Without projections about the potential impact, hospitals can't plan for enough staff, beds or children's ICU care if there are outbreaks of preventable diseases. Between 2008 and 2022, the U.S. lost about 20% of children's hospital beds, especially in rural areas, which means many families must travel farther to get care. Children's hospitals aren't built to handle big waves of sick kids. During the influenza, COVID and RSV surges in 2022 and 2023, hospitals quickly ran out of space.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-surgeon-general-school-vaccine-requirements/

[boonecreek]

1. So in short,

it wasn't based on reality .

[maxsolomon]

2. We're going to have to go way down this road before antivax dumb fucks experience regret.

The consequences should start right around the time the Dotard leaves office.

Ladapo is HARVARD-trained.

[mwmisses4289]

12. They won't have time to experience regret,

because they and their children will be 6 feet under because of their stupidity.

[Irish_Dem]

3. The residents of Florida will face a steep learning curve.

[mdbl]

15. Don't hold yer breath

I have a lot of blockhead relatives in Fla. They don't come much dumber.

[Irish_Dem]

16. Their ignorance and immorality may be their downfall.

It can actually kill them.

[SergeStorms]

30. But FloriDUH is also extremely short.....

of reporting data that doesn't fit the rabid-right's narratives. See, no problem!

[Irish_Dem]

31. So if they don't report that bad news, it doesn't exist.

That is what they think I guess.

[SergeStorms]

34. Republican "alternative facts" at their finest.

If bad news isn't reported it doesn't exist. Right-wing "communication" 101. 😁

[Marthe48]

4. Are abortion rights bodily autonomy?

n/t

[Matthew28]

5. Isn't

Being trans and having surgery on your body also body autonomy? Oh'yesss, only things that help people are to be banned or fucked with. What fucked up people.

Isn't also being gay and living your life the way you wish also body autonomy and personal freedom??

[Marthe48]

6. Right on!

the regime legitimizes the most damaging behavior and criminalizes the personal choices that harm no one. And is hellbent on removing safeguards that allow us to live full, healthy lives.

[slightlv]

11. That was my first thought.. weird ideas about "bodily autonomy"!

[progree]

7. What about my childrens' and my right to not be exposed to easily preventable diseases (for most of these)

because some me-me-me assholes are only thinking about themselves, and not about the people they and their children will likely infect if unvaxxed.

[Rebl2]

8. They don't care

They seem to want to kill as many people as possible including children. Were they not the ones (GOP) wanting women to have more children? You are going to have many dead children with this type of policy.

[Walleye]

27. They are too damn uneducated to understand infectious diseases.

[BidenRocks]

9. The Rules Of Society

Things we do to get along in the world.

We did the 'No Vaccine' thing. Remember Columbus? How about the Aztecs getting killed by new diseases. Native Americans? Smallpox?

Every explorer killed the people they met.

Let's do that again!

[yellowdogintexas]

10. At one time, Florida had the strongest and most comprehensive vaccine insurance coverage mandates

in the US.
I was a medical claims analyst for many years. At the time the Florida mandate covered all well child care through age 18, and all the immunizations which were available at that time. Health insurance was required to pay for it too.

This just makes me so mad!!

[hatrack]

13. Yeah, no shit . . .

It was based on Freedumb and bullshit and Doing Your Own Research.

Have fun, Sunshine State.

[JT45242]

14. Start ordering iron lungs in about a year...polio will be comeback player of the year

These idiots will kill or cripple millions.

I wonder how many are already investing in companies that make iron lungs, or other businesses that will make bank when these diseases start surging in a few years.

[womanofthehills]

22. Iron lungs have been replaced with modern ventilators

Which offer more precise control.

[Karasu]

17. Yeah, we know. Republicans--least of all in 2025--never base their decisions on data. They base them on spite and

ideological contrarianism.

[Old Crank]

18. Evidently it won"t affect private schools

like the ones DeSantis sends his spawn too.

[ninjanurse]

19. There is no right to spread disease

When I was working as a nurse I had to observe a man take pills to treat his tuberculosis. He didn’t want to, but it was either that or being confined to a medical facility. In the past, people with active tuberculosis were confined for months until they died or became non-contagious. I also gave court ordered injections to people with psychosis, it was that or stay in a mental institution. There’s a long tradition in law that says you don’t have a right to endanger the public.

[travelingthrulife]

24. Except for guns, of course. Endanger away!

I agree. So if the child decides to ingest poison from under the kitchen sink, he should be allowed to do that because we don't want to impede his freedom?

[ninjanurse]

20. Children died of religion

There are cases of children dying because their parents, under the influence of religion, withheld insulin injections. I think Dr. Ladapo is using religion, not science, in his policy.

[travelingthrulife]

25. I remember having to tell a young woman that her Jehovah's Witness brother

who was a perfect match for the transplant she needed, refused to donate the 300ml of stem cell product she would need because his religion forbade it.
She died.

[Ray Bruns]

21. "Florida surgeon general says decision to end school vaccine requirements wasn't based on data"

[travelingthrulife]

23. This fool needs to lose his license.

[Walleye]

26. I wonder if private schools in Florida have implemented their own vaccine protocol

[kacekwl]

28. When he said that

how could he not be run out of the building and out of the state. If anyone in the world didn't scream for his firing and loss of licence then it's on you for allowing him to continue.

[3catwoman3]

29. Harvard educated. Pfftt. I'm 74 and a retired nurse practitioner. I spent most of my adult life...

…thinking that getting admitted to and graduating from med school and law school was an indicator of superior intellect.

I was wrong.

[Aristus]

32. No kidding, dickhead.

It was based on a bunch of religious shit-for-brains, raising their hands and shouting "Homina-homina-homina!"

"Don't needs no vakseens cuz Ah bleeve in Jesus!..."

[struggle4progress]

33. "Fuck people who actually know what they're talking about! Whenever I'm sick,

I just boil some skunk fat with lots of black pepper in turpentine and take a goodly spoonful every hour or so until I'm either better or dead! I learned that remedy from Paw, rest his soul"