JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – About two-thirds of likely Florida voters polled by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab don’t want the state to end childhood vaccine mandates.
The issue was first raised by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo in September, when he announced that the state’s Department of Health would be working to eliminate school immunization requirements.
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“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” said Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”
Health experts responded swiftly and strongly, balking at the idea and pointing out that vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives globally over the past 50 years, the majority of those being infants and children.
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“Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.
Dr. Scott Rivkees, who served as Florida surgeon general from 2019 to 2021 during the pandemic, said there could be an outbreak of preventable diseases like measles and chickenpox if vaccine mandates are scrapped.
And the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics warned that could have “a ripple effect across our communities.”
According to UNF’s most recent poll, a majority of likely voters oppose the idea of ending vaccine mandates for kids.
About half of all respondents (48%) said they oppose it strongly, with another 14% opposing somewhat, the poll found. About a third of the sample supported removing vaccine mandates, either strongly (20%) or somewhat (14%).
“Florida’s surgeon general is following RFK Jr.’s lead in the fight against vaccines, but it doesn’t appear there’s much support among Florida voters,” said Dr. Michael Binder, UNF PORL faculty director and professor of political science. “As you might expect, support was much higher among people who like RFK than those who don’t.”
But Binder pointed out that even people polled who said they think medical research scientists are mostly lying are divided on vaccine requirements, with 46% opposed to getting rid of them and 52% in support.