DeSantis moves to end Florida's childhood vaccination mandates. Doctors brace for impact

This is a KFF Health News story.Florida plans to end nearly a half-century of required childhood immunizations against diseases that have killed and maimed millions of children.Many critics of the decision, including doctors, are afraid to speak up against it.With the support of Republican Gov.
Ron DeSantis, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Sept.3 announced his plan to end all school-age vaccination mandates in the state."Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery," he told a cheering crowd of vaccination foes in Tallahassee.
"Who am I, as a government or anyone else," he said, "to tell you what you should put in your body?"History shows that mandates increase the use of vaccines.Lower vaccination rates will mean increased rates of diseases like measles, hepatitis, meningitis, and pneumonia -- and even the return of diphtheria and polio.
Many of these diseases threaten not just the unvaccinated but also those they come in contact with, including babies and older people with weakened immunity.But that scientific fact is being left unsaid in Florida.Health officials have largely been silent in the face of Ladapo's campaign -- and not because they agree with him.
The University of Florida muzzled infectious disease experts, said emeritus professor Doug Barrett, formerly the university's chief of pediatrics and senior vice president for health affairs.In this Jan.6, 2022, file photo, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Gov.
Ron DeSantis are shown at a news conference in West Palm Beach, Fla.Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, FILE"They're told not to speak to anyone without permission from supervisors," he said.University spokespeople didn't respond to requests for comment.County-level Department of Health officials across the state got the same message, said John Sinnott, a retired professor at the University of South Florida who is friends with one of the county health leaders.Sarasota County's health department refe...