Florida announced Wednesday that it plans to lift all vaccination requirements, including for schoolchildren, as California forms a "health alliance" against anti-vax policies, amid a sharp divide between pro- and anti-Trump states.
Since Republican President Donald Trump's return to power, the United States, under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., has begun an overhaul of its vaccination policy, for example by restricting access to Covid-19 vaccines and cutting funding for research.
In the wake of this, Florida's top health official compared vaccine mandates to "slavery."
Local officials will "work to end every last vaccine mandate in Florida," Joseph Ladapo told a cheering audience at Grace Christian School in the heart of the Republican-dominated state, home to President Trump's famed Mar-a-Lago resort.
"Who am I, standing here before you, to tell you what to put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? I don't have that right. Your body is a gift from God," said the doctor, known for his opposition to Covid-19 vaccines.
– “Children in danger” –
If the measure were to go into effect, Florida would become the first US state to abandon mandatory vaccinations, which are considered to have helped eradicate diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, polio and hepatitis B.
Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University, called Florida's announcement "a slavish capitulation to the nihilistic anti-vaccine movement."
"Vaccines are safe, effective, and save lives," agrees epidemiologist Syra Madad. She believes that eliminating mandatory vaccination in schools "puts children and millions of other people at risk."
On Wednesday, more than a thousand current and former employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services signed a letter to lawmakers demanding the resignation of Robert Kennedy Jr., who has been accused of "endangering" the public.
Criticism of vaccines has grown in recent years, fueled by false claims such as those linking them to autism. But conservatives have historically been more inclined to call for exemptions on religious grounds.
In 2025, the United States experienced its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades.
– “Politicization of science” –
At the opposite end of the political spectrum, three Democratic states responded Wednesday by announcing the formation of a "health alliance" in "response" to last week's dismissal of Susan Monarez, who headed the country's main health agency.
Accusing the Trump administration of "politicizing science," Democratic leaders in California, Oregon, and Washington state said in a statement that they wanted to provide their residents with vaccination recommendations and information on vaccine effectiveness and safety "developed by trusted scientists, physicians, and other public health officials."
This is not the first time that California Governor Gavin Newsom has spoken out against Donald Trump's administration, with many observers considering him a serious future presidential candidate.
In June, during the anti-Trump protests in Los Angeles, Gavin Newsom opposed the president's deployment of the military, threatening to impose the same measure on other Democratic states.
More recently, the Democratic leader entered into a battle over electoral maps initiated by the Republican state of Texas, with each party aiming to favor their respective camps.
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