No doubt sparked by the anti-vaccine drumbeat from Washington, D.C., Ron DeSantis and the extreme Republican leaders of Florida are condemning their state to a public health disaster.
With this right-wing anti-vaccine hysteria, I fear that Florida won’t be the last state to fall for this.
By trying to make their state the first to end all vaccine requirements, including those for children in public schools, Florida leaders will be ushering back diseases like polio, measles and rubella that previous generations feared. We know diseases like this don’t stay within age groups or state lines. Infected kids can bring these diseases home to parents and grandparents, while sooner or later ending up in communities all across the United States.
John, vaccines save lives. What would people who lived and suffered before the miracle of vaccines say about a future generation that rejected them? I suspect they’d be as horrified as I am.
Elected leaders are supposed to protect the people — that includes protecting public health. These actions in Florida are dangerous, wrong and fundamentally opposed to that principle. They are putting conspiracy theory politics that they believe will get them votes ahead of the very children and families they are sworn to protect.
I support vaccines, ensuring schoolchildren are vaccinated and evidence-based public health initiatives. I always will.
Please, add your name to join me and condemn the attacks on vaccines both in Washington and in Florida.
Thank you for standing with me,
Roy Cooper
