Dr. Joseph Ladapo Breaks Down Decision to Remove All Vaccines Mandates in Florida

American Thought Leaders

The Epoch Times

Government, News, Politics

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In early September, during a joint press conference with Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo publicly announced the decision to eliminate all state vaccine mandates—including those required for schools.

In this episode, Dr. Ladapo explains the decision, how it will take shape, and his response to critics of the announcement who say there will be increased outbreaks of infectious disease.

“It’s just not appropriate for someone else to be able to dictate or force you to put something into your body.… If you own anything, you do own your body, just as you own your free will,” he says.

Florida’s Department of Health is removing all its current mandates, but a complete removal of all vaccine requirements from state law will require legislative action. Dr. Ladapo says he’s confident it will be passed.

We also dive into his concern that many pediatricians can refuse to treat children on the basis of the child’s vaccination status: “To be kicked out of pediatrician practices for that reason, it’s just wrong,” he says.

He’s working with Governor DeSantis on what he calls a “patient’s bill of rights.”

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's bad policy to mandate that people put things in their bodies.
0:06.0	Florida recently announced that they're going to eliminate all vaccine mandates in the state.
0:11.0	If you own anything, you do own your body, just as you own your free will.
0:15.0	In this episode, I sit down with Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Latipo
0:19.0	to understand why they're making this change,
0:22.5	how it will take shape, and whether he foresees challenges in the legislature.
0:27.3	I believe that parents provided with good information can make good decisions for the health
0:33.7	and the benefit of their children.
0:36.0	He's also working to stop the denial of medical care on the basis of vaccination status.
0:41.3	This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Yanya Kellick.
0:45.3	General Joseph Latipo, so good to have you back on American Thought Leaders.
0:58.6	Hey, thanks for having me. Always a pleasure to speak to you, Jan.
1:07.6	So you and Governor DeSantis recently announced the intention of removing all vaccine mandates across the state of Florida.
1:11.6	Just explain to me how you came to this decision,
1:14.5	because I'm sure you didn't come to it lightly.
1:18.9	Yeah, you know, it's interesting because we didn't come to it lightly,
1:22.5	but it has the simplicity of something
1:24.9	that would almost be something you'd come to lightly.
1:28.5	And it was kind of an interesting thing.
1:31.3	So we were scheduled to have a press conference about a number of different issues in the
1:38.0	health freedom area.
1:40.5	It occurred to me that this was an opportunity to do something that we really should do,
	...

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