Young children would still be required to get vaccinated before entering a Florida school or day care, but it would be easier for parents and guardians to opt out of those vaccinations under a bill passed by the Senate Health Policy Committee Monday afternoon.
In addition to addressing school vaccine requirements, would allow Florida pharmacists to provide ivermectin to adults without a prescription as a behind-the counter medication until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves it for over-the-counter sale. Ivermectin has been approved by the FDA for certain parasitic infections but federal guidelines require a prescription.
SB 1756 cleared the Senate Health Policy Committee by a 6-4 vote with longtime Stuart Republican state Sen. Gayle Harrell joining Democrats to oppose the measure. But at least two other senators 鈥� Health Policy Committee Chair Colleen Burton, a Winter Haven Republican, and Inverness Republican Sen. Ralph Masullo, a dermatologist 鈥� said the bill needed to change for them to support it in the future.
鈥淎s we know, this is a step in the process, and I鈥檇 like to see it much better going forward,鈥� Massullo told the sponsor, Jacksonville Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough.
Specifically, the bill would allow parents to opt out of vaccines based on their conscience. Today, parents are allowed to opt out for medical or religious reasons.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made national headlines in September when they announced they鈥檇 like to eliminate all vaccine mandates from Florida statutes and regulations, a move that could affect schoolchildren but also college students and even nursing home residents.
Ladapo said at the time that mandates drip 鈥渨ith disdain and slavery鈥� and that legislators would have to 鈥減ick a side鈥� in the vaccine debate.
READ MORE: Florida will work to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates in the state, officials say
Florida law requires immunization for poliomyelitis, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, pertussis, mumps, and tetanus for entry and attendance in Florida schools, childcare facilities, and family daycare homes.
Yarborough鈥檚 s bill wouldn鈥檛 change that. But the bill would require providers who vaccinate minors to provide parents or guardians with information about the risks, benefits, safety, and efficacy of each vaccine being administered. The information provided to the parents would be produced by the and the (whose members answer to the governor.)
Additionally, before giving a vaccines to a minor the bill would require providers to get a parent or guardian鈥檚 signature affirming they鈥檝e been provided the requisite information. The bill would require health care providers s to discuss with parents and guardians the administration of multiple vaccines at once and offer alternative timing options.
The bill would not, however, require parents who don鈥檛 want to vaccinate their children to have the same conversations or have forms signed by providers attesting they鈥檝e been provided information about vaccines. Harrell argued it had been longstanding policy at the Florida Department of Health to require consultations for parents who opt out but that the DeSantis administration reversed the policy during COVID.
Harrell is considered a top Republican voice in the Senate on health care policy; her husband, now deceased, was an obstetrician-gynecologist and she helped operate his clinics. She offered an to the bill that would have made the DOH also require parents who opt out of vaccinating their children to Florida licensed physicians sign forms attesting they discussed the benefits and risks associated with the vaccinations with parents.
鈥淲e are about to go down a road that鈥檚 going to create a major problem for children but also seniors 鈥� who can鈥檛 be vaccinated,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e will wind up with outbreaks of very devastating diseases such as polio 鈥� and I had a grandmother who had polio and I know how devastating that it,鈥� said Harrell.
It was shot down at the request of Yarborough, who said it was an added barrier that wasn鈥檛 needed.
Another Harrell-sponsored was adopted by the committee, though. It would provide civil, criminal, and administrative protections to medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, and advanced nurses who prescribe or administer ivermectin to adults.
Who鈥檚 in the driver鈥檚 seat?
Senate Health Policy Committee Chair Burton noted that Yarborough said SB 1756 would help put parents back in the 鈥渄rivers seat.鈥� But Burton said that the parents who testified before the committee Monday said the bill would do the exact opposite.
鈥淲e heard from a number of parents today who don鈥檛 feel like they鈥檙e in the driver seat if we pass this bill today,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know you鈥檝e heard that before because you鈥檙e a thoughtful person and you listen to everybody,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e have the challenge of weighing the rights and responsibilities of all parents, right? We lean one way or another, we will be leaving somebody out and potentially we鈥檒l be endangering some students. And if we give parents the driver seat that allows them additional exemptions to not vaccinate their children, then I鈥檓 not sure what seat that leaves some of the other parents when they don鈥檛 have options of where to send their children to school because every school has to accept these children, including private institutions.鈥�
While Masullo voted for the bill, he said his future support also was incumbent upon changes.
鈥淵ou know our governor today was talking about MAHA (Make America Health Again) and making our country greater by making our population healthier. Vaccines is part of that. And we would need to remove some of these 鈥� I鈥檇 call false 鈥� statements about vaccines and have people believe the truth. But the only way they鈥檙e going to do that is we make the truth evident to them,鈥� he said.
More than one
SB 1756 isn鈥檛 the only vaccine-related bill the Senate has discussed to date.
The Senate Committee on Regulated Industries last week voted to approve . Specifically, the bill would amend Florida to allow an individual to file a lawsuit within three years following an alleged vaccine-related injury. The bill would provide one-way attorney fees, allowing any claimant who wins to recover 鈥渞easonable attorney fees鈥� but not allow winning defendants to do the same.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat from Orlando, is pushing a proposal () to amend statutes to require the vaccines (hepatitis B, chickenpox, haemophilus influenzae type b, and pneumococcal disease) Ladapo is trying to eliminate via rule.
That bill has been referred to the Senate Health Policy, Education Pre-K-12, and Rules committees. But that proposal hasn鈥檛 been heard yet.
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