During an appearance on CNN‘s State of the Union on Sunday morning, Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo appeared to deny that the state conducted any data analysis or projection on the impact that a phase out of the state’s vaccine rollback might have on the vulnerability of the population or on the hospital system.
Newsweek reached out to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘s office and the Florida Health Department’s Immunization Section by email outside of normal business hours on Sunday for comment and clarification.
Why It Matters
Last week, DeSantis announced his administration would move to phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the Sunshine State. The governor has long looked to scale back public health requirements in exchange for “medical freedom” for residents.
If successful, Florida would become the first state to eliminate a broad range of vaccine requirements for children. At present, state rules require immunizations against measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, polio and other diseases for childcare and public school attendance, according to the state’s Department of Health’s website.
President Donald Trump notably dissented from Florida’s stance, warning that officials “have to be very careful” about vaccinations, saying it’s a “very tough position.”
Ladapo, meanwhile, has become the face of the phaseout plan, giving a press conference shortly after DeSantis’ announcement during which he denounced school and childcare vaccine requirements as “immortal” and akin to “slavery” that hampers a parent’s ability to make health decisions for their children.
Florida’s initiative plays out as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled all federal funding for 22 mRNA vaccine development projects, saying they “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”
What To Know
On Sunday, CNN host Jake Tapper pressed the surgeon general on what data analysis or projections the state completed ahead of its decision to phase out vaccine requirements.
Tapper noted that removing requirements for childhood vaccines could see a rise in cases of diseases such as Hepatitis A, whooping cough, and chickenpox, which have all risen in Florida over the past year.
The diseases have increased in other states as well. However, those states have not proposed to roll back vaccine mandates.
“Hepatitis A, whooping cough, and chickenpox cases are rising in Florida,” Tapper said. “Before you made this decision to try to lift vaccine mandates for Florida, did your department do any data analysis of how many new cases of these diseases there will be in Florida once you remove vaccine mandates?”
Ladapo responded: “Absolutely not, because there’s this conflation of the science and sort of what is the right and wrong thing to do.”
He later added: “This is part of the issue with informed consent…And then in terms of analysis, well, ultimately, this is an issue very clearly of parents’ rights. So, do I need to analyze whether it’s appropriate for parents to be able to decide what goes into the children’s bodies? I don’t need to do an analysis on that.”
Tapper sought further clarification to which Lapado said: “What I’m saying is that in terms of whether parents should be able to control, have ultimate authority over what happens to their kids’ bodies. We do have outbreaks in Florida, just like every state. And we manage those. We have outbreaks in Florida, just like special procedures that need to be made.”
Ladapo repeatedly framed the matter not as one of data but as one of ethics, saying that informed consent—when a patient is given comprehensive information about a procedure, treatment, or study before voluntarily accepting it—is impossible when there are requirements, which he said include a negative response if not followed.
“You cannot obtain informed consent for a medical treatment if there’s coercion, and a mandate is coercion because a mandate indicates that if you don’t comply there is a there’s a punishment or some negative adverse effect,” Ladapo said. “You cannot obtain informed consent which means you cannot provide ethical practice.”
TAPPER: Hepatitis A, whooping cough, and chickenpox cases are rising in Florida. Before you made this decision to try to lift vaccine mandates for Florida, did your department do any data analysis of how many new cases of these diseases there will be with no vaccine mandates?… pic.twitter.com/4N2imThzAZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2025
Florida School Vaccine Requirements: What We Know
Florida law currently requires children attending public schools and childcare facilities to receive immunizations against a range of diseases, including measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, polio and Diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP). These rules, enforced by the state Department of Health, are designed to prevent outbreaks of contagious illnesses that once posed widespread threats.
DeSantis framed the new plan as part of his broader push to roll back health mandates that grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ladapo added that the state Health Department could scrap certain mandates under its own rules, while others would require legislative action.
What People Are Saying
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week wrote on X: “Under my administration, Florida has become the leading state in the nation for medical freedom. Our health policies are guided by evidence, common sense, and respect for individual rights—not ideological agendas or special interests. With the establishment of the Florida MAHA Commission today, we’re demonstrating how states can lead the way on Making America Healthy Again.”
President Donald Trump last week told reporters during a press briefing in the Oval Office: “I think we have to be very careful. Look, you have some vaccines that are so amazing. The polio vaccine, I happen to think is amazing.”
He added: “You have some vaccines that are so incredible, and I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated. It’s a very tough position…it’s a tough stance.”
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said last week: “Every last one [mandate] is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. Who am I, as a government, or anyone else, to tell you what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? I don’t have that right. Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.”
Florida state Representative Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat, last week wrote on X: “Ending vaccine mandates is reckless and dangerous. It will drive down immunization rates & open the door to outbreaks of preventable diseases, putting children, seniors, and vulnerable Floridians at risk. This is a public health disaster in the making for the Sunshine State.”
What Happens Next?
Removing vaccine mandates in Florida would require a combination of administrative rule changes and potentially legislative action for those vaccines explicitly required by statute. State lawmakers will likely face pressure from both public-health advocates and mandate opponents as they consider next steps.
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