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Image Credit: Inside The MagicEarlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo shocked the nation when they announced that Florida would be removing all vaccine requirements for children entering school, becoming the first state to do so. The announcement was met with fear and anger, especially given that over 140 million people visit the state every year, including millions who come to Central Florida for the Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resorts.
Infectious disease experts nationwide sounded the alarm about Florida’s future and traveling to the state. Lynn Nelson, president of the National Association of School Nurses, told ABC News that Florida was opening the door to a health crisis that is “100 percent preventable.”
Doctors are most concerned about a rise in measles, mumps, whooping cough, chicken pox, and hepatitis B, most of which can be deadly for vulnerable populations. Doctors are also concerned about polio coming back to the state, a disease for which there has been a safe and effective vaccine since 1955.
Despite that concern from experts in the field, most of them agree that the effects of these policies won’t be seen for another 4-7 years, once those children who are not vaccinated come of age. However, with Florida’s rising number of unvaccinated people, the state is facing a current issue, and travelers heading to Disney World have to be aware of it.
Ladapo appeared on State of the Union with Jake Tapper this morning. Tapper pointed out that Florida has seen a dramatic increase in cases of whooping cough, chicken pox, and hepatitis, even before dropping vaccine requirements.
Florida has the highest rate of hepatitis B in the nation, with 20 out of 100,000 people having the disease. This increase is directly related to the decline in vaccinated children. Since 2000, the rate of vaccinated children has dropped just over three percent, while the cases have increased sixfold.
In 2023, Florida had only 85 cases of whooping cough. Thanks to vaccine decreases, that number increased to over 700 cases in 2024.
April 2025 saw a dramatic increase in chickenpox cases compared to April 2024, and the number was well above the average over the past five years. The largest number of those cases was in unvaccinated children under five.
When Tapper asked if Ladapo’s department did any data analysis to determine how many more cases removing the vaccine mandate would cause, he responded, “Absolutely not.” Instead, Ladapo said it was “an issue of right and wrong.”
If you’re heading to Florida to visit Disney World, ensure you and your children are up-to-date on your vaccines, or you could come home with a surprise.
Now that Florida has removed its vaccine mandate, do you feel less safe going to Disney World? Let us know in the comments.