New poll should guide Florida’s debate on childhood vaccine requirements

Every Legislative Session brings a season of competing priorities, complex data review, and hard decisions for Florida’s policymakers that shape the lives of millions of families.

This year, as the state considers potential changes to childhood vaccine requirements and policies, Florida policymakers have the benefit of unusually clear guidance: Florida voters overwhelmingly want to keep the safeguards that have protected children for decades.

A statewide poll conducted Jan. 5–8 by McLaughlin & Associates found that 79% of likely Florida voters support maintaining Florida’s current childhood vaccine requirements. Only 17% oppose them.

Support spans every region, demographic, and political group, including 71% of Republicans, 84% of NPAs, and 78% of Hispanic voters. It is rare to find an issue in Florida politics with this level of bipartisan consensus.

The poll also found strong support for the specific vaccines required under current law, with voters expressing confidence in long-standing protections against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and hepatitis B. These vaccines remain cornerstones of public health, even if today’s parents have not personally experienced the outbreaks these diseases once caused.

Despite this support, some proposals under discussion would loosen exemption rules, reduce reporting requirements such as Florida SHOTS, or remove long-standing immunization standards for certain child care settings. These proposals are often framed as expanding “parent choice,” but the polling shows voters recognize the costs of weakening safeguards. Nearly three-quarters of Floridians fear that doing so would lead to preventable disease outbreaks, and two-thirds say they would be less likely to support a legislator who votes to eliminate vaccine requirements altogether.

These concerns are grounded in real-world experience.

States that significantly broadened exemptions or weakened reporting have seen rapid increases in preventable outbreaks. Those outbreaks disrupted schools, led to avoidable hospitalizations, and placed a significant strain on local health systems.

Florida already provides medical and religious exemptions, and those long-standing processes remain available for families who need them. Families whose children cannot receive specific vaccines for clinical reasons can obtain medical exemptions, ensuring that children with complex medical needs are protected without undermining overall immunity. The system works because it is grounded in evidence. Voters, however, are clearly concerned about expanding exemptions in ways that weaken protections for all children.

The new polling reinforces that Floridians want to keep this balance.

They want to preserve the standards that protect their children, their schools, and their child care centers. They want stability. And they want policymakers focused on strategies that prevent outbreaks rather than policies that could invite them back.

The message from voters is consistent: Maintain Florida’s long-standing, evidence-based vaccine requirements. Avoid changes that weaken reporting or expand exemptions beyond medical need. Protect the safeguards that have kept Florida’s schools and communities healthy for generations.

As lawmakers debate this issue, they have access to clear, credible public opinion data. Florida voters, across political lines, regions, and demographic groups, strongly support the protections already in place. The path forward is not ambiguous. It is grounded in science, public health, and overwhelming bipartisan backing.

Florida has a proud history of responsible immunization policy. This year, Florida’s policymakers have an opportunity to continue that legacy by listening to voters and protecting the standards that keep children safe.

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Northe Saunders is president of American Families for Vaccines.