During a Sept. 3 press conference, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced plans to end all vaccine mandates in the state, comparing them to slavery, ABC News reports.  

With support from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health will work to terminate all mandates in Florida law, including those in schools, during an event at Grace Christian School in Valrico. “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo said while describing vaccine mandates.

BREAKING: “ALL” vaccine mandates in Florida to be ended by Florida Department of Health, Surgeon Gen. Joseph Ladapo announces”Every last one is wrong and DRIPS with disdain and slavery! Who am I, or anyone else, to tell YOU what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you… pic.twitter.com/1wDVzS18q3— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) September 3, 2025

Under the law of the Sunshine State, all children between kindergarten and 12th grade are required to receive several vaccines, including the vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap), and the chickenpox, unless the child has already had the disease before. 

According to the Miami Herald, parents are already permitted to object to certain vaccines on the grounds of religious reasons, a decision that has been highly criticized by public health officials and advocates. With exemptions set to be expanded, the criticism has also increased. Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly pressured his potential Republican gubernatorial opponents, such as former House Speaker Paul Renner and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, to denounce the moves from the DeSantis administration. “The next Governor gets to fire this guy,” Jolly wrote on X.

“Hopefully Byron Donalds or Paul Renner would do the same.”

The next Governor gets to fire this guy. I know I would. Hopefully Byron Donalds or Paul Renner would do the same. https://t.co/hD2ELxtqcH— David Jolly (@davidjollyfl) September 3, 2025

Data from the World Health Organization ​​highlights how vaccines are the reason for close to 154 million lives being saved in the last 50 years, a majority being infants. Health experts have mandated vaccines for decades, describing them as the most effective way to prevent the spread of disease. Under DeSantis’ leadership, vaccines have been a hot topic after Ladapo’s Department of Health recommended that healthy children not receive mRNA COVID vaccines, against the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Ladapo’s announcement comes as public health has seemingly become a major concern under the Trump administration. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert Kennedy Jr. has come under scrutiny, long before his confirmation, for his aggressive stance against vaccines. In August 2025, agency employees signed a letter urging their boss to stop spreading false information, accusing him of being “complicit in dismantling America’s public health infrastructure” and “repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.”

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