JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s decision to end school vaccine mandates has sparked debate between health officials and state leaders over public safety and parental rights.
Dr. Sunil Joshi, Jacksonville’s chief medical officer, stressed the importance of longstanding vaccines like measles, mumps, rubella, and polio, which have been mandated since the 1950s and 60s.
“Before the vaccines came out, over 500,000 people in this country got measles. And 500 children died from that,” Joshi said. “If we didn’t have the vaccine, that would translate to 1 million people with measles and 1,000 children dying.”
Joshi highlighted how mandates create herd immunity in schools, protecting children and communities. He warned that declining vaccination rates have led to outbreaks, citing Texas, where less than 50% vaccination caused 1,500 measles cases and three child deaths.
Addressing the choice argument, Joshi said, “The government tells us a lot of things that we can and can’t put into our bodies. Right. You’re not supposed to take cocaine or heroin or things like that. Not supposed to drive drunk or intoxicated. So there’s a lot of things that the government tells us that we can and can’t do. We wear seatbelts. We stop at the stop sign. We stop at a red light. All of that is to protect the public from tragedy. The same thing is true with these vaccines that have been around and mandated for generations.”
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In contrast, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said the repeal respects parental rights and informed consent.
“Parents should have the ability and the power to decide what goes into their children’s bodies. It’s that simple,” Ladapo said.
Ladapo called mandates coercive, undermining ethical medical practice, and pointed to countries like the UK and Denmark without mandates where “the sky is not falling.”
MORE: Florida’s plan to drop school vaccine rule won’t start for 90 days, won’t cover all diseases
Meanwhile, Jacksonville’s Flu VAX Jax initiative offers free flu vaccines to uninsured residents, aiming to reduce hospitalizations from preventable illnesses.
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