TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Florida is set to end all state vaccine mandates, state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced at a news conference Wednesday.

For decades, the state has required numerous vaccines for kids attending school, including shots that protect against Measles-mumps-rubella, polio, chickenpox and Hepatitis B.

But Ladapo on Wednesday compared these mandates to “slavery,” and promised that they all will soon end. He did not immediately provide specifics.

Vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives in the last 50 years, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of the lives saved were infants.

Until recently, the Ron DeSantis administration’s criticism of vaccines had been reserved for COVID-19 shots. In 2022, against the recommendation of American Academy of Pediatrics, Ladapo’s Department of Health recommended health children not take mRNA COVID vaccines. The department has since recommended against the shots for all populations.

Wednesday’s announcement marks a new moment in the administration’s break with the public health community over vaccines. Health experts have long maintained that vaccines are most effective at stopping the spread of disease when they’re widely adopted. In the 20th century, vaccine were used to eradicate diseases such as smallpox.

Florida already allowed parents to object to vaccines on religious grounds, a practice which has been criticized by public health officials. Now, vaccine exemptions are set to be expanded in the state.

The move was immediately met with criticism from Democrats. David Jolly, who’s running to succeed DeSantis as governor in 2026, urged his potential Republican gubernatorial opponents, former House Speaker Paul Renner and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, to denounce DeSantis’ move.

“The next Governor gets to fire this guy,” Jolly posted to X, referring to Ladapo. “Hopefully Byron Donalds or Paul Renner would do the same.”

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