Daily Outtakes: Rotary Fought to End Polio

Rick Outzen

3 months ago

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This week, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo publicly stated their intention to end all state vaccine mandates, including those required for school attendance—such as polio vaccination. Framed by DeSantis as a matter of “medical freedom” and personal choice, the initiative will require action from the Florida Legislature for laws pertaining specifically to vaccines like polio, measles, and mumps.

“The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida. All of them. All of them. Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo said.

Background: Florida law still requires children to receive the polio vaccine to attend childcare and public or private K–12 schools, with four or five age-appropriate doses mandated by the Florida Department of Health. The requirement applies to both public and private schools, as well as childcare and daycare settings. Florida allows exemptions based on medical or religious reasons.

DeSantis has also announced the establishment of a Florida MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) advisory committee overseen by First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins.

At a press event in Orlando, the First Lady said, “We were talking to experts, formulating a plan, obviously, to put the best interests of Floridians first, to make sure the kids were in school, to make sure that there weren’t any forced mRNA COVID vaccinations contingent on people doing their job.”

Could this reignite Casey DeSantis’ chances to run for governor in 2026?

Rotary – End Polio Now

Rotary’s efforts began in the Philippines in 1979 and expanded rapidly, leading to the launch of the PolioPlus program in 1985. Rotary Clubs, including those here in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, raised funds for the campaign, which became one of the largest and most sustained public health initiatives in history.

Rotary’s global network—over 1.4 million members across 46,000+ clubs—conducts education campaigns, community engagement, and training for health workers. The organization also promotes World Polio Day each year to raise awareness and funding for the ongoing fight.

In 1988, Rotary became a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) alongside the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation later became a major partner, providing matching funds, including a recent joint commitment of up to $450 million over a three-year period.

Achievements and Impact

•Rotary and its partners have immunized over 2.5 billion children in 122 countries.

•Cases of polio have decreased by 99.9%, preventing an estimated 650,000 cases of paralysis each year and saving up to 60,000 children’s lives annually.

•The Americas became the first region certified polio-free in 1994.

Doctors Disagree

The Florida Medical Association, the state’s largest physicians’ organization, strongly backed childhood vaccinations Thursday, a day after state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo vowed to end vaccine mandates.

“On behalf of Florida’s more than 23,000 physicians and medical professionals, the Florida Medical Association unequivocally supports the vaccination and immunization of school-aged children against diseases that decades ago proved life-threatening to our kids,” the organization said in a statement. “The FMA advocates for physicians and their patients to promote the public health, ensure the highest standards of medical practice and to enhance the quality and availability of health care in the Sunshine State. This includes the safe and effective administration of vaccines and immunizations based on years of research and efficacy.”

The statement did not specifically address state mandates for schoolchildren to receive vaccinations for such things as polio, measles and chicken pox.