Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced that the Florida Department of Health will move to repeal all vaccine mandates currently embedded in state law, outlining the effort as a joint initiative with the governor and framing the issue as one of personal liberty and bodily autonomy.
Speaking to an audience that responded with repeated applause, Ladapo said the department’s goal is the complete removal of vaccine mandates across Florida statutes.
“But what I’m most excited about is, is an announcement that we’re going to make, that we’re making now, which is that the Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law, all of them,” Ladapo said.
He repeated the point several times for emphasis as the crowd reacted.
“All of them, of them, all of them, every last one of them. Yeah,” Ladapo said, followed by more applause.
He continued, “Yeah, every last one of them, all of them,” and again, “Every last one of them, every last one of them.”
Ladapo sharply criticized the concept of vaccine mandates, arguing that government-imposed requirements violate individual freedom and personal decision-making.
“Every last one of them, every last one of them, is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. Okay?” he said.
“Who am I as a government or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?”
He extended the argument to decisions involving children, rejecting the idea that the state has authority over those choices.
“Who am I to tell you what your child should put in your body? I don’t have that right,” Ladapo said.
“Your body, your body is a gift from God.”
According to Ladapo, decisions about medical interventions belong to individuals and families rather than public officials.
“What you put into your body, what you put into your body, is because of your relationship with your body and your God,” he said.
“I don’t have that right. Government does not have that right.”
Ladapo warned that government institutions have sought to convince the public otherwise.
“They want you to believe they have that right, and unfortunately, they’ve been successful. They’ve been successful,” he said.
WATCH:
The announcement signals a renewed push by Florida health officials and state leadership to dismantle remaining vaccine mandate provisions in state law.
Ladapo’s remarks place bodily autonomy and parental authority at the center of the administration’s public health policy approach, setting the stage for legislative or regulatory action aimed at removing mandate requirements statewide.