Home › Vaccines › Florida after the election

Running File · Florida

Florida after the election: the vaccine fight, the cancer money and the medical-freedom map

On 3 November 2026 Florida elected a governor who is open to keeping Joseph Ladapo as surgeon general. Ladapo's plan to drop four school vaccine requirements is on hold until a December court hearing. Below: where things stand, what to watch, the groups and events that drive the “medical freedom” movement from Venice to Orlando, how to file a complaint, and a request to readers.

QuackeryWatch · Posted 11 November 2026 · Updated as the record changes · Companion to Joseph Ladapo: on the Record

Where things stand

Two kinds of school vaccine rules

What the surgeon general can change, and what he can't

Florida's school-entry vaccines come from two places. State law requires DTaP, MMR and polio, so only the Legislature can remove them. The Department of Health sets the requirements for hepatitis B, chickenpox (varicella), Hib and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine by rule (Rule 64D-3.046), and can drop them without a vote. That rule change is what Ladapo proposed, and what is now on hold.

Sources: WLRN, Roshan N. Bransden, 10 August 2026. Governing / WUSF, Kerry Sheridan, 29 June 2026. Florida Administrative Register notice of proposed rule, 24 August 2026.

14 – 18 December 2026 · Tallahassee

The rule goes to court

The Florida Academy of Family Physicians, a Jacksonville physician and two parents identified by initials filed a challenge on 16 October 2026 (Division of Administrative Hearings case 26-005075). They argue that the department did not follow proper procedure. A second challenge was filed by two families (case 26-005080). The Florida chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians have joined. On 23 October the department paused the change, saying its timeline “will be contingent on legal outcomes.” Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins has set the hearing for 14–18 December. These are claims in a legal challenge; no ruling has been made.

Sources: News Service of Florida via Central Florida Public Media, 3 November 2026. WLRN / Central Florida Public Media, Joe Mario Pedersen, 23 October 2026. News Service of Florida, “Number of plaintiffs in vaccine rule challenge grows by two,” 9 November 2026. See Ladapo: Florida Hearing.

2026 session · Tallahassee

The Legislature has already said no once

The 2026 “Medical Freedom Act” (SB 1756 / HB 917) would have added a “conscience” exemption to school vaccine requirements and let pharmacists dispense ivermectin without a prescription. The Senate passed its version; the House never took it up. A similar bill filed for the April special session also died, and House Speaker Daniel Perez kept the issue off the floor.

Sources: WLRN, 10 August 2026. Governing / WUSF, 29 June 2026. Tampa Free Press, on HB 917 (Rep. Jeff Holcomb).

2020 – 2026 · Statewide

Coverage is slipping, and measles is back

88.9% of Florida kindergartners had completed their required vaccines for the 2025–26 school year, down from 93.3% in 2020. Religious exemptions rose from 2.7% in 2020 to 4.6% in 2023. Broward County was at 84.7%. Florida had recorded 155 measles cases by 6 June 2026, against seven in all of 2025. A KFF/Washington Post survey found 81% of parents supported school vaccine requirements.

Sources: WLRN, 10 August 2026. Governing / WUSF, 29 June 2026.

FY 2025–26 · Cancer Innovation Fund

What Florida is actually paying for

Of the first 19 Florida Cancer Innovation Fund awards, totalling about $19.8 million, one is an ivermectin study: $1,211,319.50 to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for one genetic type of non-small cell lung cancer. Two other awards test repurposed drugs. None involves fenbendazole or mebendazole, the drugs William Makis promotes alongside ivermectin. A properly run trial at a cancer centre is how such claims should be tested; it is not evidence that the drugs work.

Source: Florida Department of Health, “Florida Cancer Innovation Fund Awardees, Fiscal Year 2025-26, Period 1,” August 2026. See Makis: Alberta to Florida.

June 2026 · Governor's veto

Naturopathic licensing stays dead

The Legislature passed SB 688 in 2026 to bring back naturopathic licensing, abolished in Florida in 1959. Governor DeSantis vetoed it. Anyone styling themselves “ND” in Florida holds no Florida licence to practise.

Sources: News4Jax, 27 June 2026. Florida House staff analysis of CS/HB 223, 25 February 2026. See Brianna Ladapo.

The numbers: before and after Ladapo

Joseph Ladapo became surgeon general on 21 September 2021, partway through the 2021–22 school year. The dashed line in each chart marks that date. The charts compare Florida with the rest of the country where comparable data exist, because many of these numbers moved nationally too.

COVID-19. A fair Florida-versus-U.S. comparison of COVID death rates and vaccine uptake needs CDC data that QuackeryWatch could not retrieve in a verifiable form for this update. It will be added when it can be sourced properly, rather than estimated.

What to watch after the election

QuackeryWatch analysis, November 2026. These are judgements, not findings.

1. Ladapo probably stays. Governor-elect Byron Donalds has said he is open to reappointing Ladapo and supports the four-vaccine rule change. If he is reappointed, his Senate confirmation becomes the next public test.
2. The fight moves to the 2027 session. Expect the conscience exemption and over-the-counter ivermectin to return. Whether they pass depends on the new House leadership, which blocked them in 2026.
3. The December hearing decides the four vaccines. If the judge rules against the department, it can redo the rule and try again. If the rule stands, those requirements could end for the 2027–28 school year.
4. Outbreaks will drive the story. With coverage falling, a school outbreak of measles or whooping cough in a low-coverage county is the event most likely to shift opinion.
5. Watch the trial results. When the Moffitt ivermectin study and other state-funded trials report, the results deserve honest coverage, whichever way they fall.

The medical-freedom map: Venice to Orlando

Groups, venues, events and official actions in four Florida regions, 2021–2026. Each entry is limited to what the cited source reports. Private individuals are not named; people are named only when they are public officials, candidates or the public face of an organization. Allegations are labelled.

Know of an event, group or clinic that belongs here, or an error in this table? Email QuackeryWatch with a link to the source.

The campaign to take over Sarasota Memorial

Sarasota Memorial is a public hospital run by an elected board. Between 2021 and 2024 the medical-freedom movement in Sarasota and Venice tried to win control of that board, investigate the hospital's COVID care, and, in the case of one group, have the hospital sold. The same people and addresses keep turning up: Vic Mellor, his Venice building at 959 E. Venice Ave., Sarasota County Moms for America, and the Zelenko Freedom Foundation. Officials, candidates and the leaders of organizations are named below; residents who spoke at meetings are not. Allegations are labelled.

May 2021 – October 2022 · The Hollow

Flynn's base camp

After 6 January 2021, Michael Flynn moved to Sarasota County and found “an operating base of sorts” at The Hollow, a 10-acre site in rural Venice that the Herald-Tribune described as at times “a children's playland, wedding venue, organizing space and weapons training ground.” Its owner, Victor Mellor Sr., a former Marine, posted that he had “just knocked on front doors” of the Capitol on 6 January. The day after Flynn's first visit in May 2021, Mellor posted that there was a “war going on” and pledged “all our resources to the Flynns in this battle.” In the fall of 2021 The Hollow drew thousands to events with Flynn, where doctors handed out mask and vaccine waivers for schoolchildren. Mellor told PBS Frontline he was not a right-wing extremist and that The Hollow was “absolutely the opposite spectrum” of a militia camp.

Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 20 October 2022, p. 7A, reporting by the Associated Press and PBS Frontline.

2021 – 2022 · Board meetings

Crowds at the board

From August 2021, activists filled hospital board meetings, at times with 100 to 300 people. They alleged that COVID patients were mistreated and denied ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, and opposed the hospital's vaccine and mask policies.

Source: Mother Jones, Kiera Butler, 17 March 2023.

August – November 2022 · Elections

The “Health Freedom Slate” wins three seats

A self-named “Health Freedom Slate” ran for the board. Bridgette Fiorucci and Patricia Maraia won in the August primaries and Victor Rohe in November. Retired physician Stephen Guffanti helped lead the campaign. Another original slate candidate, retired physician Joseph S. Chirillo, had acknowledged prescribing drugs that were not authorized for COVID, the Herald-Tribune reported. (A Dr. Joseph Chirillo is listed today as the family physician at We The People; QuackeryWatch has not confirmed they are the same person.)

Sources: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Stefania Lugli, 2 November 2022. NPR, Zach Hirsch, 21 December 2022.

29 November 2022 · Board meeting

An investigation of the hospital's COVID care

At the new board's first meeting, Guffanti spoke first. Tanya Parus, president of Sarasota County Moms for America, said she had collected more than 100 testimonies alleging mistreatment and called for a special investigation. Rohe moved to set up a special committee, and the board agreed to a review. Guffanti told NPR: “It turns out that it's more lucrative to have you die in the hospital than go home.”

Sources: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Stefania Lugli, 30 November 2022. NPR, 21 December 2022.

February – March 2023 · The finding

The review backs the hospital, and staff are threatened

The review found Sarasota Memorial's COVID death rate was 24% below the national average. The board adopted it 7–2. Death threats against hospital doctors appeared in a COVID Telegram forum, and voicemails referred to Nuremberg-style hangings. Police said they would investigate. The activist groups condemned the threats and denied any link; who made them is unknown.

Sources: Mother Jones, 17 March 2023. Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Earle Kimel, 3 March 2023. WTSP.

20 March 2023 · 959 E. Venice Ave.

“United for Transparency,” and a call to sell the hospital

Vic Mellor was one of three sponsors of a “United for Transparency” press conference against the hospital, held at 959 E. Venice Ave., a building he had bought to house a wellness clinic. The other sponsors were the Zelenko Freedom Foundation and Sarasota County Moms for America. The “SMH – Transparency Project” asked Governor DeSantis to investigate the hospital and asked for it to be sold. Michael Flynn tweeted that it should be privatized. The Herald-Tribune described Mellor as running The Hollow 2A political platform.

At the board meeting that day, Ann Vandersteel, president of the Zelenko Freedom Foundation, spoke, as did Jane Ruby, whom the Bradenton Herald described as having spread misinformation about COVID vaccines. Ruby told the board: “The American people are watching you — and every hospital — now.”

The Herald-Tribune reported the rally was billed as featuring “medical freedom” doctors who promoted ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins and supplements instead of vaccines, and “victims of Sarasota Memorial Hospital CDC COVID Protocols.” The organizers wanted a second, “fully independent” inquiry, rejecting the February review, which used data from the outside quality firm Premier Inc. and found the hospital's COVID survival rate better than expected. The Transparency Project also wanted the hospital to lose its legal protection from large lawsuit payouts. Mellor's building at 959 Venice Ave. was to house two businesses: “We The People Wellness” and “The Hollow 1A Media and Productions.” The paper also reported that after the 22 February board meeting, people including some from outside the county had called or emailed hospital staff with death threats.

Sources: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Earle Kimel, 19 March 2023 (print edition 20 March 2023, pp. 1C and 5C). Bradenton Herald, Ryan Callihan, 21 March 2023.

September 2023 · Same address

The building becomes the clinic

Six months later, We The People Health and Wellness Center opened at 959 E. Venice Ave. It later sponsored the October 2025 Venice evening with William Makis as keynote. See the map and Brianna Ladapo.

Sources: PR Newswire, 1 September 2023. KFF Health News, 31 October 2025.

January – May 2024 · Board meetings

“Post Ladapo's guidance,” and the board says no

In January 2024 board member Victor Rohe, elected on the 2022 slate, asked Sarasota Memorial to publish a statement on its website supporting Surgeon General Ladapo's call to halt mRNA COVID vaccines. He said community members asked him to raise it but did not name them. His proposal never came to a vote. On 21 May 2024 the board instead passed, 8–1, a motion saying it will respect patients' relationships with their doctors, will not mandate treatments, and will look to “evidence-based recommendations from state and federal regulatory agencies.” A clause to forward public vaccine complaints to the FDA, CDC and state health department was dropped at Rohe's request. Patricia Maraia cast the only “no” vote because she objected to dropping it. An affiliated physician, Dr. Washington Hill, told the board: “The Florida Surgeon General's claims about this COVID vaccine are false.”

Sources: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Earle Kimel, 1 April 2024. WUSF, Stephanie Colombini, 22 May 2024.

20 August 2024 · Elections

Voters say no

A second “medical freedom” slate ran: Mary Flynn O'Neill (Michael Flynn's sister), Tamzin Rosenwasser, Stephen Guffanti and Tanya Parus. The Herald-Tribune described Parus as a former EMT and “co-founder of We the People Health and Wellness Clinic, a concierge medical clinic, with Victor Mellor.” Democrats fielded a full slate for the first time, and both they and the incumbents' backers campaigned directly against the four. All four lost the Republican primary; each winner took more than 60% of the vote. Patricia Maraia, elected on the 2022 slate, publicly distanced herself from them, calling their tactics “disruptive and counterproductive.”

Sources: WUSF, Stephanie Colombini, 20 August 2024. WSLR News, 19 July 2024. Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Earle Kimel, 2 June 2024, p. 8C.

27 November 2024 · Federal court, Tampa

The clinic sues a former ally

We The People Health and Wellness Center LLC sued Tanya Parus in federal court (We The People Health and Wellness Center LLC v. Parus, No. 8:24-cv-2774, M.D. Fla.). The clinic alleged that Parus, said to be a former minority member of the company, took patients' confidential medical records and trade secrets to set up a competing business. Its claims include trade-secret theft, breach of fiduciary duty and conversion. These are allegations. On 2 December 2024 the court refused an emergency order without notice to Parus, noting that her claimed ownership was “not supported by documentation,” and directed her not to destroy evidence until a hearing. QuackeryWatch has not reviewed later filings.

Source: Order on motion for temporary restraining order, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 2 December 2024, via CourtListener.

October 2025 – November 2026 · Rhode Island

From The Hollow to a congressional ballot

In October 2025 Mellor, then 56, registered to vote in Rhode Island, where he grew up, and said he was “likely” to run for the state's 2nd Congressional District. The Providence Journal wrote that he had chosen the state as “a launching pad for his first run for elective office after making a name for himself in Florida as an anti-vaxxer,” a close ally of Michael Flynn and “the owner/builder of The Hollow.” Asked why, he said: “We just need to retake our country,” and that the “socialist wing of the Democratic Party just has to go.” He said he could spend “whatever it takes” of his own money, and that he had served as Flynn's unpaid “de facto” chief of staff. He told the paper that going inside the Capitol on 6 January ranked among the “Top 5” moments of his life.

The clinic, in his words. Mellor said The Hollow began as a gathering place for parents fighting school mask rules, where “we did a massive mask exemption signing with medical doctors.” He said he stopped taking his children to pediatricians “because they were pushing masks and they were pushing the shots,” and that this led to his role in creating We The People Health and Wellness Center. “One of the prerequisites of working there (was) you had to be fired by the establishment,” he said. Asked whether Rhode Island's school vaccine requirements should be revoked, he answered: “Absolutely. One hundred percent.”

He won the Republican primary on 9 September 2026 with about 58% of the vote. On 3 November 2026 he lost to the Democratic incumbent, Seth Magaziner, by 121,016 votes (61.9%) to 73,904 (37.8%), with all 22 cities and towns reporting.

Sources: Katherine Gregg, Providence Journal, in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 29 October 2025, pp. 1C and 9C. Ballotpedia, 2026 Republican primary results. Rhode Island Department of State, 2026 general election results, viewed 11 November 2026.

November 2025 · Where the board stands

Three seats, not a majority

All three members elected on the 2022 slate remain on the nine-member board. For 2026, Patricia Maraia is second vice chair, Victor Rohe is assistant treasurer, and Bridgette Fiorucci is a member. The chair is Kevin Cooper. The slate's attempt to win a majority ended with the 2024 primary.

Source: Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, “Sarasota County Public Hospital Board installs new officers,” 19 November 2025.

How to file a complaint

Pick the row that fits. A complaint to a licensing board must be about someone who holds a Florida licence; someone practising without one goes to the unlicensed-activity line. Keep copies, dates and screenshots.

Links checked 11 November 2026. To follow the December rule challenge, see the Division of Administrative Hearings (case 26-005075).

Have you been targeted?

Sources

• Liv Coleman, “How Amendment 3, vaccine mandates and school vouchers will shape Florida under the leadership of Byron Donalds,” The Conversation via FlaglerLive, 7 November 2026. flaglerlive.com
• “Donalds might retain Joseph Ladapo as surgeon general — Jolly says he'd fire him,” WUSF, 23 September 2026. wusf.org
• News Service of Florida, “Hearing set on challenge to Florida's school vaccine changes,” Central Florida Public Media, 3 November 2026. cfpublic.org
• News Service of Florida, “Number of plaintiffs in vaccine rule challenge grows by two,” 9 November 2026. wusf.org
• Joe Mario Pedersen, “State hits pause on plans to remove school vaccine mandates,” WLRN / Central Florida Public Media, 23 October 2026. cfpublic.org
• Florida Administrative Register, notice of proposed rule 64D-3.046, 24 August 2026. flrules.org
• Roshan N. Bransden, “Florida's surgeon general wanted to repeal vaccine mandates. They remain, but hesitancy is growing,” WLRN, 10 August 2026. wlrn.org
• Kerry Sheridan, “Florida's Vaccine Policy Could Become a National Test Case,” Governing / WUSF, 29 June 2026. governing.com
• “Florida Bill Targets ‘Vaccine Discrimination,’ Proposes OTC Ivermectin Access,” Tampa Free Press via AOL. aol.com
• Florida Department of Health, Florida Cancer Innovation Fund Awardees, FY 2025-26, Period 1. floridahealth.gov
• “Gov. DeSantis vetoes laws on naturopathic medicine & workforce education for inmates,” News4Jax, 27 June 2026. news4jax.com
• Arthur Allen, “At The Hollow in Florida, the ‘Medical Freedom’ Movement Finds Its Base Camp,” KFF Health News, 31 October 2025. kffhealthnews.org
• PR Newswire, We The People Health and Wellness Center launch release, 1 September 2023. prnewswire.com
• “Photos: Freedom Fest in downtown Sarasota,” Sarasota Magazine, April 2025. sarasotamagazine.com
• Sophia Vitello, “Around 100 protestors rally against Dr. Fauci visit,” WWSB, 14 April 2025. mysuncoast.com
• Kiera Butler, “Mike Flynn and MAGA activists wage war against a Florida hospital,” Mother Jones, 17 March 2023. motherjones.com
• Earle Kimel, “Sarasota Memorial Hospital workers receive death threats,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 3 March 2023 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• WTSP, Sarasota Memorial Hospital board adopts COVID-19 review. wtsp.com
• “In Florida, ‘health freedom’ activists exert influence over a major hospital,” NPR, 21 December 2022. npr.org
• Stephanie Colombini, “‘Medical freedom’ candidates lose out in Sarasota hospital board primary,” WUSF, 20 August 2024. wusf.org
• Stefania Lugli, “Anti-vaccine Republican challenges Libertarian for final Sarasota Hospital Board seat,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2 November 2022 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• Stefania Lugli, “Sarasota Memorial Hospital's COVID protocols to be investigated after emotional meeting,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 30 November 2022 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• Earle Kimel, “Sarasota Memorial COVID critics change location of March 20 rally,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 19 March 2023 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• Ryan Callihan, “‘Medical freedom’ activists keep Sarasota Memorial Hospital embroiled in COVID politics,” Bradenton Herald, 21 March 2023 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• Earle Kimel, “Proposal for Sarasota Memorial to adopt Ladapo anti-vaccine guidance stirs controversy,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 1 April 2024 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• Stephanie Colombini, “Sarasota hospital board bucks Ladapo's claims against COVID-19 vaccines,” WUSF, 22 May 2024. wusf.org
• Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, “Sarasota County Public Hospital Board installs new officers,” 19 November 2025. smh.com
• “Flynn” (continuation), Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 20 October 2022, p. 7A, with reporting by the Associated Press and PBS Frontline. newspapers.com
• Earle Kimel, “Sarasota Memorial foes relocate rally ahead of Monday board meeting,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 20 March 2023, pp. 1C and 5C. newspapers.com
• Earle Kimel, “4th Democrat files for Sarasota County hospital board seat,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2 June 2024, pp. 1C and 8C. newspapers.com
• Katherine Gregg, “2021 DC protester mulls run for RI seat,” Providence Journal, in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 29 October 2025, pp. 1C and 9C. newspapers.com
• Ballotpedia, Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026 (Republican primary). ballotpedia.org
• Rhode Island Department of State, 2026 Statewide General Election results, Representative in Congress District 2, viewed 11 November 2026. electionresults.ri.gov
• “What Do the ‘Medical Freedom’ Candidates Want?” WSLR News, 19 July 2024. wslr.org
• We The People Health and Wellness Center LLC v. Parus, No. 8:24-cv-2774 (M.D. Fla.), order of 2 December 2024. courtlistener.com
• Earle Kimel, Sarasota County “Bill of Rights” and “Medical Freedom” resolutions, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 11 October 2023 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• Carol Gentry, “The anti-vax founder of America's Frontline Doctors now has a license to practice in Florida,” WUSF / WFSU, 18 August 2022. wfsu.org
• “Collier County resolution bans future mask, vaccine mandates,” WINK News, 12 April 2023. winknews.com
• “Collier County adopts Health Freedom Bill of Rights,” Naples Press, 28 April 2023. naplespress.com
• Snopes, Lee County Republican “Ban the Jab” resolution. snopes.com
• Anti-Defamation League, 2021 far-right conferences report. adl.org
• Tom Kertscher, PolitiFact, 18 July 2023. politifact.com
• Eric Rogers, Brevard GOP resolution, Florida Today, 14 July 2023 (via Yahoo). yahoo.com
• FOX 13, Ladapo Tampa news conference, 17 July 2025. fox13news.com
• Associated Press via WUSF, “Florida to eliminate childhood vaccine mandates,” 3 September 2025. wusf.org
• Joe Mario Pedersen, Central Florida Public Media, 9 October 2026. cfpublic.org
• Ana Goñi-Lessan, News Service of Florida via ClickOrlando, 8 October 2026. clickorlando.com
• ClickOrlando, Ladapo at Moms for Liberty summit, 17 October 2025. clickorlando.com
• Danielle Prieur, Central Florida Public Media, 18 January 2022. cfpublic.org
• WUSF, Orange County health director reinstated, 14 March 2022. wusf.org

Related on QuackeryWatch

• Joseph Ladapo: Florida's Surgeon General, on the Record
• Ladapo: Florida Hearing
• Brianna Ladapo
• Makis: Alberta to Florida
• America's Frontline Doctors
• Anti-Vax & Antisemitism