Florida Vaccine Laws: Mandates, Bans, and Exemptions

Florida vaccine laws prohibit government agencies, private businesses, and schools from requiring vaccination with any vaccine authorized under federal emergency use or built on mRNA technology, while still requiring standard childhood immunizations for school entry. Violations of the mandate ban carry administrative fines of up to $5,000 per incident. Medical and religious exemptions are available for the school-entry vaccines; there is no philosophical or personal-belief exemption.

What Florida Bans: EUA and mRNA Vaccine Mandates

Section 381.00316 of the Florida Statutes targets two specific categories of vaccine: those authorized under federal emergency use, and those that use laboratory-produced messenger RNA to trigger an immune response. Vaccines outside those two categories are not covered by the ban.

Within that scope, the restriction is broad. No governmental entity or business may require a person to show documentation of vaccination, proof of COVID-19 recovery, or a COVID-19 test as a condition of employment, hiring, promotion, or access to services. The statute also prohibits firing, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against someone based on vaccination status for these vaccines. It applies to employees, contractors, and patrons alike.¹

Governmental entities face the same limits as private businesses. A county government, state agency, or municipal office cannot condition access to its operations on vaccination status for covered vaccines.²

Penalties

The Department of Legal Affairs enforces the statute. A governmental entity or business that violates the prohibition faces an administrative fine of up to $5,000 for each individual violation. A government employee fired in violation of the statute may also qualify for reemployment assistance under Chapter 443, on top of any other legal remedy available.¹

The Old Five-Exemption Framework Is Gone

An earlier Florida law, Section 381.00317, allowed private employers to mandate COVID-19 vaccination if they offered five specific exemptions: medical reasons (including pregnancy), religious beliefs, prior COVID-19 immunity, periodic testing, or employer-provided protective equipment. That statute expired on June 1, 2023.³ Any employer policy built around the old five-exemption structure is relying on expired law. The current rule is simpler: no mandate for covered vaccines, period.

Schools and Colleges

Section 381.00319 extends the EUA and mRNA restrictions into education. The statute defines “educational institution” broadly, covering preschools, elementary and secondary schools, career centers, and postsecondary schools, whether public or private.⁴

No educational institution in Florida may require vaccination with an EUA or mRNA vaccine, demand proof of such vaccination or COVID-19 recovery, or require a COVID-19 test for admission, enrollment, employment, or access. For every other vaccine, schools must continue to follow existing immunization law.⁴

Childhood Immunizations Still Required for School

Under Section 1003.22, every child entering kindergarten through twelfth grade in a Florida public or private school must have a certification of immunization on file. The certification appears on Form DH 680, issued by a licensed healthcare provider, and becomes part of the student’s permanent record.⁵

The Department of Health sets the schedule. For K–12 students it currently includes DTaP (4–5 doses), IPV polio (4–5 doses), MMR (2 doses), hepatitis B (3 doses), Tdap (1 booster), and varicella (2 doses). Children entering childcare, family daycare, or preschool have additional requirements for Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, along with age-appropriate doses of the K–12 vaccines.⁶

County health departments provide all required immunizations at no cost.⁵

How to Get an Exemption for School Vaccines

Florida recognizes two exemption paths: medical and religious. There is no philosophical or personal-belief exemption.

Medical Exemption

A physician licensed under Chapter 458 or 459 may certify in writing that a child should be permanently exempt from one or more required immunizations. The certification must appear on a Department of Health–approved form and include the clinical reasoning or evidence supporting it. The documentation is recorded directly on Form DH 680 and stays in the child’s school immunization file.⁷

Religious Exemption

A parent or guardian who objects to immunization based on religious tenets or practices may submit a written objection. The county health department then issues Form DH 681, the Religious Exemption From Immunization, which must be presented to the school or childcare facility before the child’s entry, attendance, or transfer.⁸

Getting the form requires an in-person visit to a county health department. The parent signs the form affirming that immunization conflicts with their religious beliefs, and the department issues the certificate. No clergy verification or supporting documentation is required.⁷

Workplace Vaccines Outside the Ban

Florida’s ban is limited to EUA and mRNA vaccines. A private employer who wants to require a fully FDA-approved, non-mRNA vaccine, such as a standard flu shot or hepatitis B vaccine, does not run afoul of Sections 381.00316 or 381.00319. In those situations, federal law governs the exemptions an employer must consider.

Religious Accommodation Under Title VII

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to accommodate a sincerely held religious belief that conflicts with a vaccination requirement, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. In Groff v. DeJoy (2023), the Supreme Court held that an employer must show the accommodation would result in “substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business” before denying the request. That replaced the older “more than a trivial cost” standard that courts had applied for decades.⁹

In practice, an employee provides a written statement of the sincerely held belief. The employer cannot demand proof of church membership or interrogate the theological basis, but may ask enough follow-up questions to determine whether the objection is sincere rather than a convenience.

Medical Accommodation Under the ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to engage in an “interactive process” when an employee requests a medical exemption. The employee describes the medical limitation, and the employer works with them on a reasonable accommodation such as remote work, masking, or reassignment. The employer may ask for medical documentation, and an employee who refuses to provide it loses the right to the accommodation. Delays cut against the employer: ignoring or slow-walking a request can create liability for failure to accommodate.¹⁰

Federal Healthcare Worker Mandate No Longer Applies

During the pandemic, the federal government required COVID-19 vaccination for staff at hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities participating in Medicare or Medicaid, and the Supreme Court upheld that rule in January 2022. CMS formally withdrew the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination requirements in 2023.¹¹ COVID-19 vaccination is no longer a federal condition of participating in Medicare or Medicaid, so healthcare workers in Florida are governed by the same state-law restrictions as everyone else.

Compensation for Vaccine Injuries

Two federal programs handle claims from people who believe a vaccine harmed them. Which one applies depends on the vaccine.

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

The VICP covers most vaccines routinely recommended by the CDC for children or pregnant women, including DTaP, MMR, polio, hepatitis B, varicella, Hib, HPV, and seasonal influenza. Claims go through the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rather than a traditional lawsuit. COVID-19 vaccines are not covered by the VICP.¹²

Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program

COVID-19 vaccine injuries fall under the CICP, a separate program administered by HRSA. Claims must be filed within one year of vaccination using a Request for Benefits Package that includes medical records documenting the injury, proof of vaccination such as a CDC vaccination card, and records from at least one year before the vaccination to establish a baseline. Submissions go through the HRSA website or by mail, not email or fax.¹³

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 381.00316 – Vaccination Requirements
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The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 381.00316 – Vaccination Requirements
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 381.00317 – Private Employer COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates Prohibited
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The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 381.00319 – Educational Institution Vaccination Requirements
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 1003.22 – School-Entry Health Examinations and Immunization
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Florida Department of Health. Child Immunizations
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The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 1003.22 – School-Entry Health Examinations and Immunization
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Florida Department of Health. Immunization Exemptions
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Supreme Court of the United States. Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. 447 (2023)
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA
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Federal Register. Medicare and Medicaid Programs – Policy and Regulatory Changes to the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care
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Health Resources and Services Administration. Covered Vaccines
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Health Resources and Services Administration. Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program