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13 September 2025

Florida Only LIFTS School Vaccine Mandates 

Florida's Surgeon General, Joseph A. Ladapo, insists that administration of vaccines to school children is a matter of parental choice. Notwithstanding his official responsibility for public health, he has been reported to think he is compelled to honor every citizen’s right to ignore science’s conclusion that “herd immunity” is the best way to eradicate most infectious diseases. He has thereby become the emblematic symbol of irrational belief in principle.  I find it hard to believe he would send his own children to a school that allowed any but exceptional constitutionally protected minors to attend unvaccinated.

In any case, it is unlikely that he would have been appointed to his post had he been known to advocate voluntary school vaccinations. Hiding that view from the governor would be a fraud and grounds for removal from office.

Public health is not a matter of personal choice; and the person in charge of protecting it must leave all governmental decisions threatening it up to others. In fact, that is probably what he has done. Unfortunately, the media has presented his announcement to lift many school vaccine mandates as his personal denial of the validity of that scientific conclusion.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was at Dr. Ladapo’s press conference. It was probably at the Governor's direction, and for political reasons, that portions of the state mandate have been removed. By the same token, DeSantis and Ladapo should be sure to recommend conformance with universal school vaccination protocols in the future. That way, they will have a chance to dance the fine line between currying the MAGA Crowd’s favor and protecting their health. 


# posted by frank : 10:29 PM
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