In the USA, vaccines against severe childhood diseases such as polio and measles have long been mandatory for school-age children. Now, Republican-controlled Florida wants to be the first in the country to abolish the requirements.
Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? Your body is a gift from God, said Florida's Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo at the press conference where he, side by side with the state's governor Ron DeSantis, announced the plans.
People have the right to make their own, informed decisions, claimed Ladapo and equated vaccine requirements with slavery.
Criticized covid vaccine
According to the surgeon, all vaccines that are currently mandatory for schoolchildren, including those against measles, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and polio, will become voluntary.
Ladapo is a known vaccine opponent, as is DeSantis. During the covid pandemic, the governor was one of the most prominent opponents of the new vaccines that were developed. Since then, he has also expressed skepticism about old, proven vaccines.
DeSantis has received support from Donald Trump's health minister, Robert F Kennedy, who has long been a vocal vaccine critic.
Saved 154 million
Florida's plan is being condemned in several quarters, even within Republican leadership. Bill Cassidy, Republican senator and doctor, warns of impending outbreaks of diseases that can be prevented.
We will have children coming to school with measles and infecting others who are either not vaccinated or have some disease, such as cancer, he says according to The New York Times.
The USA's largest medical organization AMA states that Florida's plans will "undermine decades of progress in public health", writes AP.
Vaccines have globally saved at least 154 million lives in the last 50 years, noted WHO last year.
