Doctors ask state for hearing on new proposed vaccine rule

The Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians, representing 10,000 members, formally requested a rulemaking hearing on a DeSantis administration proposal that would make it easier for parents to opt their school-age children out of vaccines. The group's letter cites the national organization's decade-old position paper opposing expanded non-medical exemptions and warning that unvaccinated individuals endanger those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons.

This is the administration's second attempt at the policy: it failed to get the Legislature to pass it and tried rulemaking last year too, holding a hearing then. The current proposal arrived one day after a Republican gubernatorial candidate said on television he'd want to 'study and really engage' the idea of repealing vaccine mandates before committing to it.

Florida law currently requires vaccination for diseases including polio, measles, and pertussis for school and daycare attendance, with exemptions allowed only for medical or religious reasons. The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment on the physicians' hearing request.

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