Florida Department of Health considers removing four school and childcare vaccine mandates

Changes school and childcare entry compliance standards for Florida families, potentially altering vaccination coverage rates and altering community exposure risks for preventable bacterial and viral infections.

• •The Florida Department of Health held a hearing in October 2026 to consider removing mandates for four school and childcare vaccines: Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), chickenpox, pneumococcal, and hepatitis B.
• •The proposal would not eliminate the availability of these four vaccines, but would remove the mandate requirement for school and childcare entry.
• •Before Hib vaccines were introduced, it was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, with 20,000 invasive infections annually in U.S. children under five in the early 1980s.
• •U.S. reported 13 cases of Hib in children under 5 in 2023, which increased to 28 cases in 2026.
• •Before the chickenpox vaccine began in 1995, the U.S. saw over 4 million cases annually, resulting in 10,500 to 13,500 hospitalizations and 100 to 150 deaths each year.
• •Prior to the childhood pneumococcal vaccine introduced in 2000, pneumococcal disease caused about 17,000 invasive infections annually in American children under 5, including roughly 700 meningitis cases and 200 deaths.
• •Infants infected with hepatitis B have about a 90% chance of developing chronic hepatitis B, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
• •Only 88.9% of Florida kindergartners received the MMR vaccine during the 2025-26 school year, falling below the national average of 92.4% and the 95% herd immunity threshold.
• •In May 2026, the Florida Department of Health temporarily removed county-level disease data from its website and currently lacks a dedicated measles dashboard.
• •An outbreak of measles at Ave Maria University outside of Naples infected at least 62 people, contributing to 162 total cases reported in Florida as of October 17, 2026.