Since the 1800s, US states have relied on vaccine mandates as the first effective defense against a disease that had killed millions.
The top public health official in Florida, who is now a century old, claimed vaccine requirements are morally wrong and unnecessary because of the high vaccination rates.
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According to Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, “you can still have high vaccination rates, just like the other countries who don’t have any mandates, like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the majority of Canada,” No mandates, just comparable vaccine use.
It is true that some nations have high vaccination rates, comparable to those in the United States, despite no vaccine requirements. However, experts contend that the US would adopt the same pattern if it eliminated the requirement for school vaccinations on their own.
Current Florida state law mandates specific immunisations for students attending public and private schools through the 12th grade. For religious or medical reasons, families can opt out. Recent data indicate that about 11% of Florida kindergarteners are not immunised. Ladapo is urging the state to end its mandatory school vaccinations with the support of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
According to research, the countries Ladapo cited don’t have stringent vaccine requirements, like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the UK, and some parts of Canada. However, their governments suggest implementing these safeguards, and their healthcare systems, for example, provide vaccine access that is easily accessible.
By examining the third dose of a DTaP vaccine series that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough), UNICEF, a UN agency that refers to itself as the “global go-to for data on children,” evaluates how well countries provide routine childhood immunisations.
According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), 94 percent of American one-year-olds had received three doses of the DTaP vaccine between 2024 and 2024. That’s in contrast to the UK, where it is 92 percent, Denmark at 96 percent, Norway at 97 percent, Sweden at 96 percent, and Canada at 92 percent.
According to experts, widespread, government-provided healthcare and a high level of confidence in the government are likely factors in those nations’ vaccine adoption. Many Americans are unable to afford doctor’s visits or time off from work. Additionally, the government is less trusted. If the government eliminated mandatory school vaccinations, these things might prevent the US from experiencing comparable participation rates.
Increased vaccination rates and stronger government trust
Multiple studies have linked vaccine mandates to increased vaccination rates and linked them. Although these studies found connections between the two, the research does not demonstrate that mandates alone increase vaccination rates. Causation and association are not interchangeable.
Mandates frequently come with other factors that can affect vaccination rates, such as local efforts to increase access to vaccines, increase documentation, and combat vaccine hesitancy and refusal.
The nations Ladapo cited are high-income nations that promote and provide access to vaccines.
The Public Health Agency of Sweden, for instance, offers the vaccines that are included in national programs for free in Sweden, where all vaccinations are voluntary.
According to Dr. Megan Berman of the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences, preventive care is more accessible and routine for everyone in nations with universal healthcare systems like Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.
Our healthcare system in the US is more fragmented, and costs and availability of care can affect access, she said.
According to experts, the US stands out from other nations because of more restricted healthcare access, decreased institutional trust, and anti-vaccine activists’ influence.
People are more likely to get vaccines to support the community because of cultural norms in some of these other nations, according to Berman.
Danish citizens have a strong trust in the government, according to Anders Hviid, an epidemiologist at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, in part because of this country’s misguided comparison of its health situation to that of the US.
In contrast, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of advanced, industrialized countries, less than one in three Americans over the age of 15 reported having faith in the national government as of 2024. That is the lowest percentage of the nations mentioned by Ladapo.
According to Dr. Richard Rupp of the Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch, “reputation depends on trust in the government and scientific body that is making the recommendations.”
Experts claim that vaccine education would be even more crucial without mandates.
If states eliminated mandatory school vaccinations, experts said they thought vaccination rates in the US would drop.
According to Samantha Vanderslott, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group’s Vaccines and Society Unit, which examines attitudes and behavior toward vaccines, maintaining high vaccination rates without mandates would require health officials to concentrate on other policies, interventions, and messaging.
Given that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the country’s top health official, has a long history of being anti-vaccine activist and skeptical, that is especially challenging.
According to Vanderslott, that makes the US an anomaly.
According to her, “governments generally support or promote vaccination as a public health good.” According to Vanderslott, it is unusual for someone with Kennedy’s background to work in a position where he has the authority to spread misinformation, foster vaccination hesitancy, and limit access to and funding for mainstream vaccination research.
According to Rupp, the majority of people choose to adhere to recommendations based on their opinions regarding the benefits of a vaccine and the level of disease risk in their children. That means that countries that provide vaccines and illnesses’ education will be more successful, he said.
In the end, experts concluded that doing something elsewhere doesn’t guarantee that it will work in the United States.
A vaccine policy’s viability may vary from country to country, according to Matt Hitchings, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. Numerous variables affect vaccination rates.
Would it be conclusive to say that drinking tea lowers the risk of cancer if I said that people in the UK consume more tea than Americans and have lower rates of some cancers? ‘Hitchings said’
