On September 3, 2025, in announcing plans to end all state vaccine mandates, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made several false or misleading claims about the safety of vaccines and described them as “poison.” He also compared vaccine mandates to “slavery” and claimed that there is no ethical reason for herd immunity "to be used as a force to take away your ability to choose what you put in your body and what you as a parent put in your child's body."
Public health experts agree that vaccine mandates for children in daycare or school help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said that "[w]e can expect that measles will come roaring back. Other infectious diseases will follow. This is an unprecedented move that will only put our children at unnecessary risk." The American Medical Association issued a statement strongly opposing the plan and urging Florida officials to reconsider it to "help prevent a rise of infectious disease outbreaks that put health and lives at risk."