There’s a reason certain life-threatening diseases like polio, measles and whooping cough were essentially eradicated, public health experts say: vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.

But a once-routine requirement is under attack due to rising public skepticism that accelerated during the pandemic and has been fueled by online misinformation and promoted by high-profile figures, including U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In recent months, Kennedy has canceled millions of dollars in federal funding for mRNA vaccine research and fired the members of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions committee that makes vaccine recommendations, replacing some members with people who have been critical of vaccines. Last week, Florida’s surgeon general said the state would do away

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