Families at Lennard High, East Bay High and every other Hillsborough County school could soon see four fewer vaccines on the enrollment checklist.

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo approved a proposed rule on Thursday, Aug. 20, that would remove requirements for chickenpox (varicella), hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for all PreK-12 students at public and private schools statewide. The public comment window opened Monday, Aug. 24, and closes Monday, Sept. 14.

All four vaccines remain required for school entry while comments are being accepted.

Because those four requirements were established through agency regulation rather than state law, the Department of Health can remove them without a vote by the Legislature, Fox 35 reported. Vaccines still required by statute, including measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), polio, diphtheria and tetanus, are unaffected.

The move follows a September 2025 announcement by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ladapo calling on the Legislature to roll back all vaccine mandates in Florida. Lawmakers did not act, forcing the administration to pursue the change through the rulemaking process.

What else the rule would change

Beyond removing the four mandates, the proposed rule would expand the existing religious vaccine exemption to cover "sincerely held moral or ethical beliefs" and let parents opt their children's records out of Florida SHOTS, the state's immunization tracking system, according to the Florida Phoenix.

Parents react

Hillsborough County parent Kat Robinson-Malone told WFLA she plans to keep following vaccine recommendations for her children. "We all want healthy children, and vaccines are not political, science is not political, and the evidence that supports both of them is not political," she said.

Parent Amanda Lemond described a more mixed reaction, saying she supports giving families the option but acknowledged concerns about rising disease.

Vaccination rates already falling

Florida's kindergarten vaccination coverage dropped to an estimated 88.9% in the 2025-2026 school year, down from about 94% in 2019, according to CDC data reported by the Miami Herald. That falls below the 95% threshold public health experts say is needed for herd immunity against measles. The state's kindergarten vaccine exemption rate rose to 5.9%, or about 12,540 children, with nearly all exemptions non-medical, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

Florida has reported 155 measles cases as of Aug. 8, far above the state's average of 3.5 cases per year since 2000.

Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a prepared statement Aug. 24 that Florida ranks fifth nationally in measles cases and urged the Department of Health to preserve the requirements that have "protected Florida's children and families for decades."

What happens next

After the comment period closes Sept. 14, the public has an additional 21 days to request a formal hearing. If the agency makes no changes after a hearing, challengers have another 21 days to file a legal challenge at the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

Parents can submit comments directly at flrules.org through Sept. 14.