Florida’s plan to drop school vaccine rule won’t start for 90 days, won’t cover all diseases

AP Florida s plan to drop school vaccine mandates likely won t take effect for days and would include only chickenpox and a sparse other illnesses unless lawmakers decide to extend it to other diseases like polio and measles the wellness department commented Sunday The department responded to a request for details four days after Florida s surgeon general Dr Joseph Ladapo revealed the state would become the first to make vaccinations voluntary and let families decide whether to inoculate their children It s a retreat from decades of residents framework and research that has shown vaccines to be safe and the the majority effective way to stop the spread of communicable diseases especially among children Despite that evidence U S Physical condition Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has expressed deep skepticism about vaccines Florida s plan would lift mandates on school vaccines for hepatitis B chickenpox Hib influenza and pneumococcal diseases such as meningitis the healthcare department disclosed The Department initiated the rule change on September and anticipates the rule change will not be effective for approximately days the state notified The Associated Press in an email The population school year in Florida started in August All other vaccinations required under Florida law to attend school remain in place unless updated through rule including vaccines for measles polio diphtheria pertussis mumps and tetanus the department mentioned Lawmakers don t meet again until January although committee meetings begin in October Ladapo appearing Sunday on CNN repeated his message of free choice for childhood vaccines If you want them God bless you can have as a multitude of as you want he explained And if you don t want them parents should have the ability and the power to decide what goes into their children s bodies It s that simple Florida at present has a religious exemption for vaccine requirements Vaccines have saved at least million lives globally over the past years the World Wellbeing Organization stated in The majority of those were infants and children Dr Rana Alissa chair of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics revealed making vaccines voluntary puts students and school staff at threat This is the worst year for measles in the U S in more than three decades with more than cases proven nationwide the greater part of them in Texas and three deaths Whooping cough has killed at least two babies in Louisiana and a -year-old in Washington state since winter as it too spreads rapidly There have been more than cases as of Aug nearly more than this time last year according to preliminary CDC details