Did school vaccines just become a campaign issue?

With five months left in office, Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration proposed eliminating several school vaccine requirements and easing moral or ethical exemptions, a day after GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds hedged on repealing such mandates and floated immigration as a factor in a measles outbreak. Florida has 142 reported measles cases, fifth-highest nationally, behind states including South Carolina and Utah.

Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who first proposed the change a year ago while likening mandates to slavery, offered a different explanation tying the outbreak to abortion politics. Democratic nominee David Jolly's campaign says he would fire Ladapo if elected, while state legislative Democrats have separately complained to federal health officials about communication breakdowns during outbreaks.

Having failed to get the Legislature to pass the change into statute, the administration is now pushing it through rulemaking directly, skipping the usual first step and going straight to a proposed rule that gives the public 21 days to request a hearing.

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