Florida has 162 measles cases reported and no dashboard — so it’s considering dropping 4 school vaccine requirements

In October 2026, the Florida Department of Health conducted a hearing to consider removing four vaccine requirements for school and childcare entry: Haemophilus influenzae type b, chickenpox, pneumococcal, and hepatitis B. These vaccines were introduced from the early 1980s to 2000, drastically reducing the incidence of severe bacterial infections and preventable deaths among children.

The proposal would weaken a policy aimed at maintaining high vaccination coverage, as school vaccination requirements help establish herd immunity, protecting those who are too young to be fully vaccinated or have medical conditions that prevent them from developing adequate protection. Before vaccines became widely available, Hib was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, with 20,000 invasive infections among American children under 5 years old in the early 1980s, resulting in 3% to 6% of deaths and 15% to 30% of survivors suffering from deafness or brain damage.

Chickenpox, which had over 4 million cases annually in the U.S. before the vaccine in 1995, led to hospitalizations, deaths, and long-term health complications such as shingles. Pneumococcal bacteria, which can cause serious infections in children, resulted in approximately 17,000 invasive infections in American children under 5 years old before the childhood vaccine in 2000.

Hepatitis B can be transmitted from an infected mother to her baby during childbirth or through contact with infected blood, potentially causing chronic infection and liver cancer. Florida's historical records for these diseases are incomplete, making it difficult to assess the impact of the pre-vaccine era. However, the resurfacing of measles in the state this year demonstrates the potential consequences of neglecting vaccination requirements.