Republican Governor Presses State Legislature For PERMANENT BAN On mRNA Vaccine Mandates

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged state legislators to permanently ban mRNA vaccine mandates.

According to Florida Politics, existing laws banning public and private mandates in the Sunshine State expire this summer.

“Guided by common sense and sound science, Florida has led the way in protecting patients’ rights. Now is the time to secure these protections and do even more to defend medical freedom,” DeSantis said.

“@FLSurgeonGen, @CaseyDeSantis and I are calling on the Legislature to expand our Patient’s Bill of Rights, by prohibiting healthcare providers from refusing to treat patients based on vaccination status. We’re also calling on the Legislature to make permanent Florida’s ban on mRNA mandates,” he continued.

“Let’s keep Florida the beacon of freedom in health care, where the rights of all patients are enshrined in law,” he added.

Guided by common sense and sound science, Florida has led the way in protecting patients’ rights. Now is the time to secure these protections and do even more to defend medical freedom.@FLSurgeonGen, @CaseyDeSantis and I are calling on the Legislature to expand our Patient’s… pic.twitter.com/l7caamt0Kh

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 5, 2025

A closer look:

Florida Politics reports:

In 2023, DeSantis signed legislation (SB 252) making it illegal for businesses or governments to fire or refuse to hire employees because of their vaccination status among other provisions. “It is the intent of the Legislature that Floridians be free from mandated facial coverings, mandates of any kind relating to vaccines,” the bill said.

But the legislation also included a sunset date of June 2025.

“We enacted protections for people in the state of Florida so that no one had to choose between a job they needed and a shot they didn’t want. And we saved thousands and thousands of jobs and livelihoods as a result of doing that,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said he has no idea why the Legislature added an expiration date in the bill, but is calling on lawmakers to extend the ban and make it permanent.

“We cannot allow those protections to evaporate,” he said as the Legislature reconvened for the first week of the Regular Session.

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Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis Call to Protect Patient Freedom and Permanently Ban mRNA Mandates in Florida https://t.co/b5hm4NjAlz

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 5, 2025

Per Florida’s Voice:

The governor said that he doesn’t know if organizations would “immediately” reimplement mandates, but warned “rationality” can be quickly lost.

The original provisions, when passed, were set to expire in June of this year.

DeSantis also proposed adding vaccination status protections to Florida’s “Patient’s Bill of Rights.”

He warned that people have been denied transplants because “they did not have a COVID mRNA shot or booster.”

“How sick is that?” he said.

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“We don’t want Floridians to be kicked out of a doctor’s office, denied treatment, or anything,” the governor said, if they have chosen not to take an mRNA vaccine.

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