Vaccine policy in the U.S. is rapidly dividing into two opposing camps: state leaders who are prioritizing access to shots, and those who are taking increasingly aggressive steps to undermine confidence in them.

That piecemeal policy approach, enabled by federal health leadership that appears to question the value of, and restrict access to, vaccines almost daily, defies the basic tenets of public health and will leave Americans nationwide vulnerable to outbreaks.

The latest fracture came from Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who on Wednesday announced that his state would become the first in the country to eliminate vaccine mandates. That could mean Florida schoolchildren would no longer be required to get the standard immunizations that prevent infectious diseases like polio and

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