On the same day that California, Oregon, and Washington announced a new pro-vaccine coalition, offering a three-state vaccine guidance program in the absence of sane, scientific advice from the CDC, Florida's anti-vaxx surgeon general announced the state would drop all its vaccine mandates.

We live in truly insane times. The far left and far right both wrap around and touch each other back in the far-far ether on the issue of vaccination — conspiracy theories and pseudoscience don't descriminate, politically. But now, Florida's controversial surgeon general, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, is announcing that Florida plans to be the first state to end all vaccine mandates, full stop.

So, children won't need to get vaccinated for diseases we solved decades ago, like measles and polio, in order to go to school. And Florida's school system could, thus, become ground zero for outbreaks of these deadly diseases, all because of some cukoo crazy adults like Dr. Ladapo — who was also a very vocal enemy the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body?” said Ladapo at a press conference Wednesday alongside Governor Ron DeSantis, per the New York Times. "Your body is a gift from God."

Ladapo, who was born in Nigeria, penned a book in 2022 — when the pandemic was not even really over — that has a forward by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., titled Transcend Fear: A Blueprint for Mindful Leadership in Public Health. In it, he argues that the majority of public health officials were driven too much by fear in making stay-at-home orders, and subsequently, vaccine mandates.

Ladapo has been widely criticized in the public health field for his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine. As far back as December 2023, in his role as Florida's surgeon general, he was calling for a total halt in the use of the mRNA-based vaccines, spreading fear that they could cause damage to human cells, cancer, and "chromosomal instability," none of which are supported by the medical community.

The call to end vaccine mandates completely in Florida seems aimed at aligning with RFK Jr., and perhaps inspiring other states to take this dangerous step.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington issued a joint statement Wednesday announcing a three-state "health alliance" that will issue its own vaccine information and guidance, which will inevitably contradict what will come out of the Centers for Disease Control and the FDA under Kennedy.

The move follows the mass resignation last week of high-ranking officials at the CDC, who say that Kennedy is uninterested in heeding scientific advice, and that they are thus unable to effectively do their jobs in service to the public.

Per the Times, the West Coast "health alliance" intends to "provide residents with scientific data about vaccine safety and efficacy, and to issue guidance on vaccines for respiratory illnesses like Covid and the flu, as well as an array of childhood immunizations."

The governors' joint statement, which you can find here, argues that the CDC has become "a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences."

"Through this partnership, the three states will start coordinating health guidelines by aligning immunization recommendations informed by respected national medical organizations," the joint statement says. "This will allow residents to receive consistent, science-based recommendations they can rely on — regardless of shifting federal actions."

The polar-opposite actions by Florida and the three West Coast states portend a potential health crisis in the coming years, as we could see more outbreaks of measles, mumps, polio, and other diseases that have long been seen as erradicated in the US — all because of conspiracy theories, fed by the internet, that have now become a dominant force via RFK.

Florida already faced a measles outbreak in the Fort Lauderdale school system in 2024. Rather than recommend that children stay at home to avoid exposure, Dr. Ladapo said he was "deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance."

Last week, thanks to RFK, the FDA went against CDC's earlier recommendations, limiting COVID vaccination eligibility to people age 65 and older, and those with documented health conditions — excluding those who might want the vaccine for any other reason, like they live with someone elderly or otherwise vulnerable.

Sane Republican lawmakers could of course do something about this slowly moving crisis, but the 52 senators who confirmed RFK to his post in February, and Ron DeSantis, apparently see their political futures tied to staying loyal to the vaccine crazies. Only Mitch McConnell, a childhood survivor of polio, joined Democrats in voted Nay when it came to confirming RFK.

Related: CDC Clarifies COVID Guidelines, Reverses RFK Jr.'s Broader Rollback Claims

Top image: Xerius Jackson, age 7, gets an MMR vaccine at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock Public Health Department on March 1, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. Cases of Measles are on the rise in West Texas as over 150 confirmed case have been seen with one confirmed death. (Photo by Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)