FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s Democratic members of Congress are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to reconsider a new state directive to eliminate school-based vaccine requirements.
“We feel it is dangerous to remove this cornerstone of public health that ensures children are protected from preventable illnesses and keeps classrooms safe for students, schools, and families alike,” Florida’s Congressional delegates wrote in a letter delivered Tuesday to DeSantis.
Florida’s eight Congressional representatives signed the letter asking for DeSantis to respond.
LAST WEEK, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced the state would become the first to make vaccinations voluntary and let families decide whether to inoculate their children. Florida requires its 4.5 million children to be vaccinated against some diseases when they attend kindergarten. The childhood immunization rates plunged in Florida in 2025 as more parents sought religious exemptions from requirements for their children.
“We respectfully ask you to reconsider this policy and restore these long-standing safeguards,” delegation members wrote to DeSantis.
The U.S. representatives who signed say this is simply a health concern, not a matter of politics: “Preserving these protections is not a partisan matter but a bipartisan responsibility to protect our most vulnerable and ensure that our schools remain safe places to learn and thrive.”
FLORIDA’s proposed change comes as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has faced growing scrutiny over his vaccine skepticism, and appeared at a Senate hearing last week to respond to critics who say he is jeopardizing evidence-based ways to prevent dangerous outbreaks.
