Editorial: Bleak session's single success: Vaccines survive

When someone demands that you do something in extreme haste, the wisest advice is usually "just say no."

That's what House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said Tuesday to two of Gov. Ron DeSantis's do-it-now demands in this week's special session.

The Legislature should not even be in session for anything but a past-due budget, which comes later.

Perez blocked the governor's so-called Medical Freedom bill, which would play politics with the lives of Florida's children. That's the right step.

Perez also refused to consider legislation introduced in the Senate, supported by DeSantis, to regulate artificial intelligence. AI has dangerous applications, and DeSantis is on the right track. But the present bill falls short by not addressing energy-gobbling and water-wasting data centers. Stronger legislation should be a priority in 2027.

It would be better had Perez ditched DeSantis' outrageous scheme to gerrymander four of Florida's eight Democratic members of Congress - two from Broward - out of office. The DeSantis plan is blatantly unconstitutional under Florida's Fair Districts amendments, and if it passes it should be challenged in court immediately.

Parents, rest easy for now

For the time being, responsible parents in Florida can rest easy that school enrollment vaccination requirements will remain in place.

Next order of business: Elect a governor in November who will support vaccinations and get rid of DeSantis's vaccine-denying surgeon general Joseph Ladapo, and get rid of legislators who would sacrifice the health of our children to political ambition.

Democratic candidate for governor David Jolly, at the Capitol Tuesday, said he would dismiss Ladapo on his first day in office and rely on evidence-based science to make decisions about public health in Florida.

This state has had some awful governors, but none in modern times ever attempted anything so repugnant as exposing more children to deadly diseases, as DeSantis has.

Senate Bill 6-D, one of the cynical subjects of this special session, would have further weakened Florida's childhood vaccination rates, which have already sunk too low. That it came amidst Florida's worst measles epidemic in decades sets a new low in shamelessness.

The bill is identical to what the Senate passed but the House sensibly refused to consider during this year's regular session.

‘The Medical Folly Act' of 2026

The governor's Medical Folly Act, to call it by a better name, would sabotage Florida's long-standing childhood vaccination law, allowing parents to exempt their sons and daughters for reasons of "conscience."

It's far broader than current medical and religious exemptions. An opt-out form online would make it even easier.

The proposal would burden doctors with giving parents a highly detailed consent statement to be prepared by boards of medicine and osteopathic medicine, and forbid health authorities to order vaccinations during outbreaks of familiar or new deadly diseases.

If one accepts for argument's sake - which we do not - that parents have some startling right to deny lifesaving protection to their own children, it begs the question of jeopardizing other people's children.

The clash between misguided concepts of individual freedom and the necessities of social responsibility won't end soon. A more responsible governor and legislature are needed to restore the state's ability to cope with future epidemics like COVID-19 and to make sure that bills like SB 6-D don't emerge again.

Preschool vaccinations are essential to the herd immunity that protects infants until they are old enough to be vaccinated. For example, the MMR shot for measles, mumps and rubella can't be given until a child is a year old.

A negative trend line

Measles, about the most virulent of all diseases, is communicable before symptoms show. An infant's accidental exposure to an infected child can mean serious illness, brain swelling and sometimes death.

The threshold for herd immunity is generally calculated at a 95% vaccination rate. The number of fully vaccinated Florida kindergarten students reached a low of 88.7% last year, down from 94.1% a decade ago. Only 91.9% of seventh-graders are fully vaccinated.

The U.S. had eradicated measles. It's back, due to vaccine skepticism and outright denial fostered in large part by people who don't believe in social responsibility.

A total of 1,792 confirmed measles cases were reported nationwide through April 23, according to the CDC, including 134 in Florida. That's almost as many nationwide as the 2,222 in all of 2025.

If your child isn't vaccinated, now - not later - is the time to do it.

Most Floridians understand why vaccines are needed. In a poll by McLaughlin & Associates, 80% of 1,700 likely voters said they support existing school entry vaccination requirements. That includes 72% of Republicans, 83% of independents and 71% of evangelical or born-again Christians.

Sixty-five percent opposed changing the requirements and 59% said they would be likely to vote against a legislator who did so.

Most people don't think children should be pawns in any politician's culture war.

Political careers are expendable; Florida's kids are not. Perez did right by them.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons , opinion editor Krys Fluker and viewpoints editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 9:28 AM.