Vaccine opt-outs continue to climb in Florida schools
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Florida tops the Southeast in vaccine exemptions for kindergartners, a number that ballooned while the state's surgeon general stoked fear about vaccination.
Why it matters: Lingering vaccine hesitancy from the pandemic is evident in pediatricians' offices as more parents opt out of shots for measles, chicken pox and whooping cough, among others, using non-medical religious exemptions.
By the numbers: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 4.5% of kindergartners in Florida skipped the required vaccines as of 2023, compared to 1.8% in 2013.
- Almost all of these exemptions are non-medical, at 4.1%
- There are 14,015 students in Hillsborough County with non-medical religious exemptions, per the district.
Between the lines: Florida's surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, is a well-known vaccine skeptic and has often made claims about COVID-19 vaccines that experts describe as "nonsensical."
- In 2022, he recommended that children aged 5-17 not get vaccinated against COVID-19. Last year, he broadened that recommendation to those younger than 65.
- He also bucked federal health guidelines on measles — one of the world's most contagious viruses — in February by not urging parents to vaccinate their children against it.
What they're saying: Non-medical religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements rose 1% annually over the past several years in Florida, said Tom Lacy, chief of Florida Primary Care for Nemours Children's Health.
- While most kids are getting vaccinated, it takes a 95% rate to maintain herd immunity against a disease like measles, he pointed out.
- Parents are not just opting out of the well-known childhood shot against measles, mumps and rubella known as MMR, but also vaccines against whooping cough, chicken pox, meningitis, and the flu, he said.
- Some may be picking and choosing vaccines based on their perceptions of which seem more important or safer.
The ease of opting out of vaccinations varies by state and can have a direct bearing on uptake, Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, told Axios.
- In Florida, a parent can obtain a religious exemption for their child by visiting the county's health department, requesting one and presenting their ID and the child's birth certificate.
- No appointment is needed, and no questions are asked, per the state Department of Health.