Miami-Dade County's MMR vaccination rate sits at 91%, four points below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity against measles.
The gap leaves local school children exposed. Florida has recorded 155 measles cases in 2026, up from six in all of 2025, NBC 6 South Florida reported Wednesday, Aug. 26. Nationally, 2,777 cases have been confirmed this year. In all of 2024, the entire country saw 285.
NBC 6 also reported that Pennsylvania health authorities announced Wednesday, Aug. 26, that two unvaccinated people died from measles, marking the first U.S. measles deaths in 35 years.
"The stage is set, the stage is set for potential communicable diseases to come into our schools and into our communities, and so it's very frightening," Dr. Lisa Gwynn, a University of Miami pediatrician, said Wednesday.
State moves to drop four school vaccines
Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo approved a proposed rule on Aug. 20 to remove four vaccines from Florida's school entry requirements: Hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib, which protects against meningitis) and pneumococcal conjugate (which protects against pneumonia).
The Sun Sentinel reported the rule carries a 21-day public comment period before final approval. Because those four vaccines were established through agency rules rather than state law, the Department of Health can remove them without legislative approval, Fox 35 Orlando reported.
Vaccines required by state law, including MMR, polio, diphtheria and tetanus, remain in place.
The proposed rule would also expand religious vaccine exemptions to include moral and ethical beliefs, and would let parents opt out of having their children's records in the state vaccine database.
Federal pressure adds uncertainty
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Aug. 10 recommending the MMR vaccine be split into three separate shots given at different visits. Separate MMR vaccines are not currently available in the United States, and the licensing process takes years, Education Week reported.
Trump's order recommended reducing routine childhood vaccinations from 17 diseases to 11. It still recommends three of the four vaccines Florida seeks to drop but reclassifies Hepatitis B for only "high risk" groups, meaning Florida's proposal goes further than the federal order on that vaccine.
Local pediatrician pushes back
Gwynn said more parents are requesting vaccine exemptions because misinformation is widespread. She directly disputed Ladapo's claim that the Hepatitis B vaccine was approved after only a week of testing, saying it went through years of testing before FDA approval.
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) President Dr. Susan Kressly warned in a statement that the proposed rule change would put children in Florida public schools at higher risk of illness, with ripple effects across their communities.
Nationally, vaccine exemptions among kindergartners grew to 4.2% in the 2025-2026 school year, up from 3.6% the prior year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
What Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay families should know
Miami-Dade County Public Schools partners with the University of Miami Health System's UHealth Pediatric Mobile Shotz-2-Go Unit to offer required immunizations at select school locations during the school year. No specific clinic dates for the Palmetto Bay or Cutler Bay area have been announced.
The public comment period on the proposed vaccine rule is expected to close around Sept. 10. Families can submit input through the Florida Department of Health's rulemaking portal.
