Florida Proposes Changes to Vaccine Requirements and Exemptions
Public comments are due September 14, 2026
The Florida Department of Health is proposing significant changes to the state’s vaccine requirements, exemption forms, immunization registry policies, and school compliance procedures.
The changes are included in Florida Proposed Rule 64D 3.046, published on August 24, 2026.
The public has until September 14, 2026, to submit comments.
What Florida Is Proposing
The proposal would remove hepatitis B, varicella, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and pneumococcal vaccines from portions of Florida’s school and child care entry requirements.
The proposal would also:
Update Florida’s religious exemption form.
Include moral and ethical beliefs within the exemption process.
Clarify the right to opt out of the Florida SHOTS immunization registry.
Update immunization forms and school compliance procedures.
These are proposed changes. They have not yet become final policy.
Public Health and Individual Decisions
Public health policies should protect communities while also respecting individual medical decisions, parental rights, informed consent, religious freedom, and medical privacy.
These goals do not have to conflict.
States can encourage vaccination and provide access to vaccines without treating every federal recommendation as an automatic school mandate. A recommendation may be appropriate for some children while an individualized discussion may be necessary for others.
A fair policy should consider both population goals and the circumstances of the individual child. It should also provide meaningful exemptions, clear notice, reasonable privacy protections, and an opportunity to challenge decisions that affect school access.
Florida’s proposal recognizes that vaccine recommendations, mandates, exemptions, and registry participation are separate policy questions. Each deserves its own public review.
IPA Supports the Direction of the Proposal
Informed Policy Advocates supports Florida’s decision to reconsider individual school vaccine requirements rather than treating the entire vaccine schedule as one permanent policy.
IPA also supports provisions that:
Expand recognition of religious, moral, and ethical beliefs.
Give families greater control over participation in the state immunization registry.
Require individual vaccine requirements to be reviewed separately.
Preserve a parent’s ability to make informed medical decisions for a child.
Encourage greater transparency about how school vaccine policies are developed and enforced.
Supporting this proposal does not require ignoring public health concerns. It means asking the state to balance those concerns with individual rights and to use the least restrictive policy reasonably available.
What Florida’s Review Could Mean for California
Florida and California have different laws and public health systems. Florida’s proposal cannot simply be copied and applied in California.
It does show that states can reassess individual vaccine requirements, exemption procedures, and registry policies.
California requires school vaccine medical exemptions to be submitted through the California Immunization Registry Medical Exemption system. Families do not have a comparable general choice to keep their information outside the state immunization registry while participating in that process.
Florida’s proposed registry opt out raises an important question for California: Can public health goals be met while giving families more control over sensitive medical information?
California should also examine whether each school vaccine requirement remains necessary, proportionate, and supported by current evidence. Existing requirements should not be protected from review simply because they have been in place for years.
Who May Submit a Comment?
The official notice does not state that comments are limited to Florida residents.
Florida parents, healthcare providers, educators, organizations, and other directly affected residents should identify their connection to the state.
People outside Florida may also comment. They can explain why Florida’s proposal has broader importance, offer experience from another state, or describe how similar policies have affected informed consent, medical privacy, exemptions, or school access.
Comments should remain respectful, focus on the actual proposal, and request specific action.
What Should the Public Address?
Supporters may ask the Florida Department of Health to:
Adopt the proposed changes.
Protect informed consent and parental decision making.
Preserve religious, moral, and ethical exemptions.
Protect the ability to opt out of the Florida SHOTS registry.
Review every school vaccine requirement separately.
Explain the evidence supporting any requirement that remains in place.
Use the least restrictive approach available.
Provide clear notice and fair procedures before a student is excluded.
Personal comments can also explain how a vaccine requirement, exemption process, registry policy, or school exclusion has affected the commenter or the commenter’s family.
Sample Public Comment
Re: Proposed Rule 64D 3.046
I support the Florida Department of Health’s proposal to review and revise the state’s vaccine requirements, exemption forms, and immunization registry policies.
Public health is important, but it must be balanced with informed consent, individual medical decisions, parental rights, religious freedom, and medical privacy. A federal vaccine recommendation should not automatically become a school mandate without a separate review of the evidence, necessity, available alternatives, and consequences for students and families.
I support Florida’s proposal to expand recognition of religious, moral, and ethical beliefs and to clarify the right to opt out of the Florida SHOTS registry. Families should have greater control over sensitive medical information.
I also support reviewing vaccine requirements individually instead of treating the entire schedule as one permanent policy. Florida should use the least restrictive approach that reasonably protects public health while respecting individual rights.
Please adopt the proposed changes and continue providing the public with clear information about the evidence and reasoning behind each school vaccine requirement.
Thank you for considering my comment.
How to Participate
Review the official notice for Florida Proposed Rule 64D 3.046 for the agency contact and current submission instructions.
Comments are due September 14, 2026.
Before submitting, commenters should confirm the instructions and deadline shown in the official notice. Keep a copy of the final comment and any confirmation of delivery.
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