Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees Medicare and Medicaid under the Trump administration, says he supports Florida’s effort to eliminate childhood vaccine requirements in schools.
“I would definitely not have mandates for vaccinations,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator said in a television interview, reports The Hill on Thursday.
“This is a decision that a physician and a patient should be making together,” Oz added. “The parents love their kids more than anybody else could love that kid, so why not let the parents play an active role in this?”
Oz added that doctors “shouldn’t feel pressure from the government to decide what to do with the vaccination schedule,” emphasizing that physicians should focus on what is in the best interest of the child in consultation with parents.
His remarks came the same day Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced plans to end vaccine mandates in the state. Florida’s requirements for public schools and daycare facilities have long included immunizations for polio, diphtheria, measles, rubella, pertussis, mumps, tetanus, and other communicable diseases.
Ladapo’s announcement coincided with the launch of the Florida Make America Healthy Again commission, chaired by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins.
“Every last one is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo said of the mandates. “Who am I, or anyone else, to tell you what you should 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. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God. Government does not have that right.”
At a press conference in Valrico, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the panel will promote “individual medical freedom, informed consent, parent rights, and also market innovation.”
Ladapo, who will also serve on the new commission, did not provide a timeline for when the mandates would be scrapped. The proposal has raised concerns among health experts, who argue that school vaccine requirements are critical to preventing outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 95% of people need to be vaccinated against measles to prevent its spread.
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