Kindergarten vaccine exemptions rose in Florida: CDC
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Nearly 6% of kindergartners in Florida were exempt from one or more vaccines during the 2025–2026 school year, well above the national average, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why it matters: Thousands of children entered elementary school across the Sunshine State without protection from preventable and potentially deadly diseases, including measles and polio.
- Florida recorded over 100 cases of measles, including 19 among children younger than 10, just as students prepared to head back to school.
By the numbers: Coverage with the MMR, DTaP, polio and varicella vaccines among kindergartners in Florida fell from at least 93.5% in the 2019-2020 school year to 88.1% in 2023-24, according to CDC data.
- About 12,500 of the state's kindergartners were exempt from one or more vaccines, with non-medical exemptions accounting for nearly all of them.
Between the lines: Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is a well-known critic of vaccine mandates, going so far as to liken them to "slavery" last year and vowing to end them in Florida.
- For now, schoolchildren are still required by state statute to get immunized against seven illnesses including: polio, diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, mumps and tetanus.
- Parents can, however, obtain a religious exemption for their child by visiting the county's health department. No appointment is needed, and no questions are asked.
Friction point: Attorney General James Uthmeier is at odds with Catholic schools across the state over their refusal to accept non-medical vaccine exemptions.
- He has threatened to disqualify them from state scholarship and voucher programs if they do not reverse the policy.
Yes, but: Polling shows childhood vaccines remain popular, but the Trump Administration's efforts to upend longstanding vaccine policies could further erode trust in vaccines, medical experts say.
- President Trump last week signed an executive order calling for a slimmed-down childhood vaccine schedule and breaking the MMR vaccine into three separately administered shots.
- It also advises states to review federal vaccine recommendations and update their requirements for school enrollment.