After Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced plans to eliminate all vaccine mandates in Florida, UF Health released a contradictory statement emphasizing the importance of immunizations.
At a conference held Sept. 3, Ladapo, a professor of medicine at UF, said he would work with Gov. Ron DeSantis to make Florida the first state to eliminate all vaccine mandates.
UF Health contradicted Ladapo’s efforts in its own statement, saying “public health and safety is a shared responsibility.”
“The overwhelming consensus of the medical and public health communities show that vaccines are among the most studied and scrutinized medical interventions in history,” the statement said. “They are proven to be safe, effective, and essential in preventing the spread of many serious infectious diseases.”
Ladapo’s work at the university started alongside his appointment as Florida’s surgeon general in 2021. Now, Ladapo’s state-wide anti-vaccine campaign will directly impact his workplace.
With vaccination no longer being a requirement for student enrollment, Florida schools will likely lose the authority to ensure student immunization.
The proposed change polarized opinions along the state.
UF Health and the Florida Education Association made public their opposition to Ladapo’s plans for Florida’s health. Both said they believe and support scientific-based evidence of vaccination efficacy, effectiveness and protection. The institutions also said they worry about the impact of Ladapo’s policy changes on UF’s campus.
“When leaders talk about pulling back vaccines, they’re talking about disrupting student learning and making schools less safe,” the education association said in a statement.
Both UF Health’s and FEA’s positions on the issue conflict with Ladapo’s idea that schools “don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body” and “people have the right to make their own decisions, informed decisions.”
Contact Bruna Arnaes at bmoreira@alligator.org. Follow her on X @bruna_arnaes.
