Bill targets power to mandate vaccination
Florida state rep. says other tools remain for fighting outbreaks
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With a COVID-19 vaccine potentially weeks away from the start of national distribution, a Florida lawmaker on Monday filed a bill that would eliminate the state’s power to require mandatory vaccines during a pandemic.
GOP state Rep. Anthony Sabatini of Howey-in-the-Hills, who has pushed several unsuccessful lawsuits challenging local mask mandates, filed the legislation (HB 6003) on the first day of bill filing for the 2021 legislative session that begins March 2.
The bill, if passed and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, would not take effect until July 1.
The measure comes nearly nine months after the first cases of the coronavirus pandemic were announced in Florida, and as the state experiences a third wave of COVID-19 infections.
In a pre-recorded video two weeks ago announcing the potential distribution of a vaccine, DeSantis said the state would not force anyone to get a COVID-19 vaccine if they don’t want one.
“That is going to be the choice of each and every Floridian,” he said.
But in March, DeSantis ordered Surgeon General Scott Rivkees to declare a public health emergency, a move that gives Rivkees broad powers to pursue actions to curtail the spread of the disease, including ordering residents to be vaccinated.
Under state law, Rivkees can call on local and state law enforcement to back up any action he deems necessary to contain the virus.
Public health officials said it would require most people to get vaccinated for it to be effective. Various surveys show from half to two-thirds of respondents willing to get inoculated.
A 1905 Supreme Court decision upholds the right of governments to require vaccinations during times of public health emergencies. The decision is the basis of mandatory vaccination programs for schoolchildren in all 50 states.
But the policy has come under sharp debate in recent decades, giving rise to legal challenges weighing public health protections against individual and religious liberty.
A group of central Florida lawyers concerned about the prospect of compulsory vaccinations formed a group in August called America Freedom Information Institute to draw attention to the issue, but also to drum up legislative support to change the law.
“This is a great step in the right direction,” said Shawn McBride, a Deland lawyer and co-founder of the group.
In discussing the bill with Sabatini last week, McBride said he was reassured that the bill leaves plenty of tools in place, including quarantines, for the state to control any public health emergency.
“The state still has a lot of power to deal with the outbreak,” McBride said.