My daughter just celebrated her fifth birthday. We were thrilled to have her friends and even both sets of grandparents to our house in Lakeland for popcorn chicken and Publix subs.
The less fun part of having a birthday is what happened a few days later: We took her to the pediatrician and got her a couple of shots. It was a bit inconvenient to take time off work to do that. But it’s a choice we make to keep our kids safe.
Across the Sunshine State, routine childhood immunization rates are lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, as more families opt out of these shots. Kindergarten measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine coverage now sits at roughly 88% — well below the 95% level needed to suppress transmission in a community.
It’s without question that parents should be the ones to decide to vaccinate their children. What’s troubling about the drop in vaccination rates, however, is that confused — and at times contradictory — public debate around vaccines has almost certainly driven that decline.
Making matters worse, a number of policymakers in Washington are now taking steps that would limit access to vaccines, even for parents who want them. However one feels about vaccines, the choice must be left to parents, and not bureaucrats in Washington.
After the past few years, it’s understandable that many Floridians are more skeptical about vaccinating their children. Federal government overreach during COVID-19 brought rules that shifted without transparency or consistency, including some that cost medical professionals and military servicemembers their jobs. Many states closed schools for months or longer even when evidence showed most children weren’t at high risk for COVID-19 — damaging the trust that many had in public health and government officials.
Tragically, children today are paying the price. Childhood vaccines with decades-long safety and effectiveness records are now caught in the fallout.
Parents should feel encouraged to ask questions about the risks and benefits of vaccination; that’s part of responsible decision-making. For its part, the government should do its best not to stifle debate or interfere with the health care decisions of Florida families.
Unfortunately, that’s not the direction Washington is heading in lately. Longtime vaccine critic and one-time Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been pressuring CDC vaccine panel members to change the childhood vaccination schedule. That panel ultimately voted to end a decades-old federal recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine.
And, only weeks ago, the CDC abruptly announced it was cutting the number of routine childhood vaccine recommendations from 17 to just 11 — without a public comment period or input from its own vaccine panel. Several long-standing vaccines, including flu and meningitis shots, were suddenly shifted into a conditional category.
These actions don’t just send mixed messages to parents as they decide what is best for their child’s health. They discourage conversations about vaccines, which could ultimately serve to reduce access to shots for families who genuinely want them. That’s a step too far.
Floridians deserve the right to choose for themselves whether to vaccinate their children. And federal policies that take away that basic freedom have no place in this country.
President Trump himself has recently weighed in on this matter, voicing support for routine childhood vaccines and noting that many “pure and simple” work. And he’s right. Families who want these vaccines should be able to access them easily — without Washington putting up new barriers.
As a Florida parent and member of a local church, I hear from parents all the time who simply want to make informed decisions for their own children. After the confusion and uncertainty we faced during COVID-19, the last thing that’s needed is Washington overcorrecting and limiting access to vaccines parents actually do want — and that could save lives.
Communications professional Josh M. Shepherd and his wife are raising their two kids in Lakeland.
