JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida is set to become the first state in the country to end the long-standing practice of requiring certain vaccines for school students.
“The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law, all of them, all of them. All of them. Every last one of them,” Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced Wednesday.
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Public health experts have argued for years that vaccines keep the spread of infectious diseases in check.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ladapo’s announcement immediately drew national attention, as Florida would become the first state to do this.
Action News Jax has been tracking immunization rates among local school children since 2017.
RELATED: Thousands of Duval parents leverage vaccine exemptions; these 5 schools have the lowest vax rates
Investigator Emily Turner dug into the data, which shows the number of unvaccinated children in schools has been climbing for years.
Making shots to protect against diseases like measles, polio, and chickenpox optional is generating impassioned reactions on both sides of the vaccine debate.
But the numbers show local parents have already been opting out of getting their children vaccinated, and that is likely to become a more common practice now.
In a sweeping move, DeSantis said the Florida Department of Health can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, all in the name of parental rights.
RELATED: Local public health experts voice opposition to Florida’s plan to end vaccination requirements
“Those principles are, as I mentioned, individual medical freedom, informed consent, parent rights, and also market innovation,” he said on Wednesday.
The move has shocked some and enraged others. Pediatricians like Dr. Randolph Thornton of Jacksonville Pediatrics are already speaking out and saying vaccinations save lives, and this move could put more children at risk.
“It’s so challenging as a pediatrician trying to do what we trust and what we believe in. But all I ask is parents try to trust what the pediatricians are saying. That’s not a conspiracy. It is not a problem with the vaccines,” Thornton said.
The move is likely to cause immunity rates to tumble, but Action News Jax found the number of unvaccinated children in schools has been climbing for years.
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From an all-time high in 2011 with 95.8% of Kindergarteners vaccinated in Duval and 91.2% in St. Johns, to just 87.6% and 89.8%, respectively, last year.
For this year, between medical and non-medical exemptions, 9,879 unvaccinated students are enrolled in Duval County Public Schools and 2,193 in St. Johns.
Beyond concerns with the trend, doctors say the way they are distributed is even more of a problem in pockets.
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Local numbers show schools like Cornerstone Classical Academy and St. Augustine Montessori have greater concentrations of unvaccinated students all learning together, making individual schools like those ripe for an outbreak.
“You know, for whatever reason, more and more parents are able to opt out of vaccines and it’s really going to cause a problem if more and more children are not vaccinated,” Thornton said.
DeSantis did not say which vaccines will be involved or how the change will be implemented. He also didn’t mention when it will take effect.
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