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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Florida’s move to end vaccine mandates may deepen skepticism in Black
communities, health experts warn
By Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN
Updated:
7:00 AM EDT, Sun September 14, 2025
Source: CNN
Kiva Williams lives in Tampa, Florida, but she’s worried the state is
going to turn into the “wild, wild West.”
Florida officials announced their intent to all vaccine mandates this
month, which would make it the first state to terminate the
well-established and practice of requiring certain vaccines for
schoolchildren.
“I’m a parent who cares about health and lessening overall
sickness,” Williams said.
The mom of three said she has always taken her kids to get their
vaccinations – not only to comply with the state’s school
requirements but because she also feels at peace knowing the vaccines
can prevent her kids – and their classmates – from getting
seriously ill from diseases such as measles, mumps, polio and hepatitis
B.
Measles, one of the world’s most contagious infectious diseases, can
cause serious complications – such as blindness, pneumonia or
encephalitis, swelling of the brain – and even turn deadly,
especially in children younger than 5. It can also years down the line.
The worst form of the polio virus causes nerve injury that can lead to
paralysis, difficulty breathing and death. Hepatitis B is an illness to
liver disease and cancer.
The state’s move has left Williams worried that some parents —
particularly in Black families, who and hurdles to health care access
– will opt out of getting their children vaccinated, leading to an
increased risk of exposure to illness at Florida schools.
Health advocates fear this could lead to higher rates of illness among
children, which could worsen the health care disparities that already
afflict the Black community.
from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that for
children born between 1994 and 2023, childhood vaccinations about 508
million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations and more than 1.1
million deaths.
Vaccines also “provide substantial health and economic benefits and
promote health equity,” the CDC says.
Removing vaccine mandates despite research showing they work could send
mixed messages to the Black community, which is already generally
skeptical of the health care system due to the nation’s history of
racism in medical research, said Dr. Nelson Adams, an
obstetrician-gynecologist in Miami and a board member for the an
organization that aims to improve health outcomes in underserved areas.
“The trust issue is compounded when the messaging is not clear,
it’s inconsistent and the messengers are folks who have positions of
authority,” Adams said.
Vaccine hesitancy in the Black community pandemic, and many and efforts
to build confidence in the vaccine that rolled out at the end of 2020.
Civil rights leaders criticized the federal government at the time for
failing to prioritize
But vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans also has roots going back
decades further due to the nation’s in medical research.
Adams pointed to the from 1932 to 1972, which recruited 600 Black men
— 399 who had syphilis and 201 who did not — and tracked the
disease’s progression by not treating the men as they died or
experienced severe health issues. Black people who were enslaved were
also used by doctors to test medications and surgeries that often
caused health complications or death.
Differing views
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced earlier this month
that the state health department would immediately move to end all
non-statutory . State lawmakers will then look into developing a
legislative package that ends any , Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
Every vaccine mandate “is wrong and drips with disdain and
slavery,” Ladapo said, adding that they should be a personal choice.
“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed
decisions,” Ladapo said. “What you put into your body is because of
your relationship with your body and your God. I don’t have that
right. Government does not have that right.”
Adams said it is “appalling” that Florida would roll back vaccine
mandates.
“These vaccines are a must, and this is a step backward after years
and years of us making incremental steps in the right direction,”
Adams said. “We are mitigating morbidity in children and the elderly
and saving lives in children and the elderly.”
Ladapo’s potent derision of vaccine mandates sparked a near-instant
deluge of and vigorous disagreement, including from .
Dr. Zachary Rubin, a double board-certified who specializes in
immunology and allergy treatment, said in a Substack that Ladapo’s
words are “a calculated move in the ongoing politicization of public
health.”
“The reality is that vaccines are not shackles, they are shields.
Vaccines have eradicated smallpox, nearly eliminated polio in most of
the world, and saved millions of lives annually. To suggest otherwise
isn’t just irresponsible; it’s dangerous,” he wrote.
President Donald Trump when asked about Florida’s move to cancel the
mandates.
“I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people
don’t have to be vaccinated,” Trump “You have vaccines that work,
they just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all, and
I think those vaccines should be used; otherwise, some people are going
to catch it, and they endanger other people.”
Vaccines save lives, experts say
Dr. Roger Mitchell, president of the , called it “dangerous” to
turn vaccines into a political issue when science has proved them to be
lifesaving.
He said removing the vaccine mandates “gives power to the
hesitancy” that many Black Americans may already be feeling toward
vaccines and the health care system. Black people face more barriers to
health care due to lack of and are than their White counterparts.
Making vaccines a choice could mean some Black families are less likely
to engage with the health care system or talk to their physicians about
other health concerns, Mitchell said.
“The evidence is overwhelming that vaccination is protective
particularly in our pediatric, and our elderly and more vulnerable
populations,” Mitchell said. “It’s helpful for those that are
disenfranchised and disinherited and don’t have access to care. These
things are helpful, and they save lives.”
Civil rights leaders agreed that removing vaccine requirements could
have negative consequences for Black Americans.
“Rolling back vaccine mandates in Florida threatens to deepen the
health disparities already impacting Black communities,” NAACP
President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement to CNN. “At a
time when vaccine hesitancy and barriers to healthcare persist,
removing safeguards such as vaccine mandates only puts Black Floridians
at greater risk.”
Dr. , a professor and the senior vice chair of epidemiology at Emory
University’s Rollins School of Public Health, said she worries that
without state mandates in place, there may be more barriers for
families to get vaccines.
For example, she said, parents may need to get a prescription to get
their child a vaccine, as opposed to being able to simply walk into a
pharmacy.
There is also the risk of health insurance companies charging for
vaccines that were previously covered when there was a state mandate,
Guest said.
“When additional barriers are put in place, it disadvantages already
disadvantaged communities,” Guest said.
Guest said she encourages families to speak with their physician if
they feel torn about whether to get their child vaccinated.
“We really do have a lot of data to support how safe and effective
these vaccines are in keeping our kids healthy.”
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