Florida is set to end all state vaccine mandates for children, officials have announced.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo revealed that the state would no longer enforce vaccination requirements for children attending school to protect against some of the most transmissible diseases.

These include measles, mumps and rubella, polio, tetanus, chickenpox and Hepatitis B. 

Ladapo compared vaccine mandates to ‘slavery’, stating that the Florida Department of Health, alongside Governor Ron DeSantis, plans to abolish all such mandates within the state.

‘Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,’ Lapado said.

‘Who am I, or anyone else in the government, to dictate what should be put into your body?’ Ladapo questioned. ‘Similarly, who am I to decide what your child should have? That is not within my rights.’ 

Previously, Florida mandated that children in both public and private schools from kindergarten through 12th grade receive a series of vaccines, with exemptions available on religious or medical grounds upon parental request.

The new move makes Florida the first US state to eliminate all vaccine mandates for children. It’s unclear if adults will be affected. 

Joseph Ladapo (photographed next to Governor Ron DeSantis) declared the state’s intention to eliminate vaccine mandates during his announcement on Wednesday.

The CDC estimates that childhood vaccines save four million lives every year.

The move comes months after Idaho became the first state in the nation to outlaw vaccine mandates in both public and private sectors. 

The ‘Idaho Medical Freedom Act’ prohibits private businesses, educational institutions, and government organizations from refusing entry or services to individuals who have not undergone a ‘medical intervention,’ such as receiving a vaccine, procedure, or medication.

And in March, DeSantis called on the CDC to stop recommending the mRNA Covid vaccine for children to ‘defend medical freedom.’ 

DeSantis said at the time: ‘Guided by common sense and sound science, Florida has led the way in protecting patients’ rights. Now is the time to secure these protections and do even more to defend medical freedom.

‘Let’s keep Florida the beacon of freedom in health care, where the rights of all patients are enshrined permanently in law.’ 

Ladapo said Wednesday that lawmakers will ‘have to choose a side.’ He told those who don’t wish to be vaccinated: ‘God bless you.’ 

DeSantis also called out pediatricians this week who refuse to accept patients whose parents are against vaccination. ‘Unless there’s a really clear reason to put something in, then I wouldn’t do it,’ he said. 

The announcement was paired with the creation of a Florida version of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ commission, which will be led by the state’s first lady, Casey DeSantis. 

Children attending school in the US currently are required to be vaccinated for contagious diseases such as measles, tetanus and polio (stock image)

Governor Ron DeSantis called out pediatricians this week who refuse to accept patients whose parents are against vaccination. He said: ‘Unless there’s a really clear reason to put something in, then I wouldn’t do it’

The federal MAHA movement is led by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr with the aim of overhauling the country’s health system and lower rates of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. 

Earlier this year, MAHA adviser Dr Aseem Malhotra told the Daily Mail that the team could look at removing school vaccine mandates nationwide, though it’s unclear if that move is in the works yet. 

Casey DeSantis said: ‘I really applaud what they’re doing at the national level with the MAHA movement. 

‘A lot of these drugs, you don’t need them if you live a healthy lifestyle. If you’re eating fruits and vegetables, you can reverse a lot of these chronic conditions.’

In Florida, 88 percent of people have completed all five doses of the TDAP vaccine, which prevents tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). Herd immunity requires 92 to 94 percent.

And only 88 percent of kindergarteners in Florida are vaccinated against measles, which requires 95 percent for herd immunity.