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Late last month, State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith filed Senate Bill 626 to expand the list of immunizations required by the state for entry to public or private schools.
Florida Statute 1003.22 already requires that children be immunized against polio, rubeola (aka measles), mumps, rubella, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus.
Smith’s bill, if passed, would add chickenpox, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and pneumococcal diseases, like meningitis and pneumonia, to that list. The bill includes wording to exempt children from immunization requirements for religious or health reasons.
Smith’s bill comes in the wake of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s push to eliminate all vaccine mandates, from those for Covid-19 to those for school entry. In a September news conference, Ladapo equated vaccine mandates to “slavery” and said they were “immoral.”
The Associated Press reported the first vaccines to be targeted were those for chickenpox, hepatitis B, Hib and pneumococcal disease. As the Florida Trident explained, these fall under the Florida Department of Health and are the only ones that Ladapo can remove unilaterally. The other immunizations are mandated by state law although Ladapo has indicated he wants lawmakers to repeal them.
“The DeSantis administration’s plan to roll back school vaccine requirements puts kids and communities at risk,” Smith, a Democrat who represents Senate District 17, told VoxPopuli by text. “It also confuses parents, undermines trust in public health and further politicizes the Florida Department of Health — to the point that doctors across Florida are increasingly afraid to speak out.”
Vaccines are not banned, but decisions to immunize have been left to families.
Florida’s kindergarten vaccination rates have declined steadily from 93.5 percent in 2020 to 88.7 in 2025. In Orange County, vaccination rates have dipped further, to 85.4 percent.
“If school immunization requirements for these diseases are eliminated, vaccination rates will fall even further and vulnerable children will pay the price. Someone has to be the adult in the room. That’s why we introduced this legislation that puts science, common sense and the safety of our children first," Smith said.
Measles, mumps and rubella are combined in the MMR vaccine, typically given when children are 12 to 15 months old with a booster at four to six years of age. Diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus are combined in the DTaP vaccine, a five-dose series given at two months, four months, six months, 15 to 18 months old and 4 to 6 years of age. The polio vaccine is a four-dose series given at two-, four- and six-months old with a booster at four to six years old.
The chickenpox vaccine is given at 12 to 15 months with a booster at 4 to 6 years old. Hib and pneumococcal vaccines are given at two-, four- and six-months old with boosters at 12 to 15 months. Hepatitis B is a three-dose vaccine with the first dose typically given within the first 24 hours of birth and subsequent doses given at one to two months old and six to 18 months old.
However, the New York Times reported Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose members were replaced in June by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., “is likely to decide that a vaccine to prevent Hepatitis B — a highly contagious disease that can severely damage the liver — should no longer be administered routinely at birth and perhaps should not be offered to children at all.”
"SB 626 makes one thing clear — Florida will choose science over political chaos and will not abandon its responsibility to protect children," Smith said. "Vaccines against hepatitis B, chickenpox and bacterias that cause meningitis and pneumonia have dramatically reduced serious illness, longterm complications and worse for decades,” Smith said.
Smith’s bill does not yet have a sponsor in the House.
