Snowbirds should update their vaccinations this winter as Florida considers a measure that could harm the health of Quebecers

Experts are encouraging snowbirds to update their vaccinations before migrating to Florida this winter, as the Republican state considers a measure that could harm the health of Quebecers.

Florida's chief health officer, ^Dr. Joseph Ladapo, recently announced plans to make the state the first to eliminate mandatory vaccinations for school-aged children.

"I'm not worried, but I'm not surprised either," said Bernard Gagné, who has been living in Florida for five to six months a year for the past twelve years.

US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "and his cronies are somewhat imposing what they promised," that is, to axe public health as we knew it, illustrates epidemiologist and professor at the University of Montreal Benoît Mâsse.

The return of preventable diseases

Mr. Gagné, who admits he's not a fan of the White House tenant, remains calm. This won't stop the 67-year-old from spending his winters in the Sunshine State.

He and his partner are up to date with their vaccinations, but he deplores the consequences these changes will have on "future generations."

Because vaccination rates risk falling and thus fueling the spread of preventable diseases, according to ^Dr. Masse.

"This will bring back the infant mortality that vaccines had helped prevent," laments Hélène Carabin, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal, who also points out that it is more economical to vaccinate a population.

Quebecers spending the cold season in Florida will need to pay particular attention to rubella and whooping cough, in particular, which require booster doses. They will be exposed to an environment where many more diseases will circulate, warns ^Dr. Masse.

Impacts here

If the Florida case is so alarming, it is mainly "because we know that the Secretary of Health of the United States and his gang are basing their decisions on bogus studies," he laments.

Backing down on mandatory vaccination, which is well established in the United States, risks "reducing public confidence in vaccines [and] it is possible that it will fuel anti-vaccination movements in Quebec," fears Ève Dubé, an anthropologist and vaccination expert at Laval University.

^Dr. Masse is concerned that, due to anti-science changes in American public health, his information can no longer be trusted or the evolution of viruses can no longer be tracked.

Especially since the latter "do not stop at borders," illustrates Ève Dubé.

Not mandatory in Quebec

In Canada, only Ontario and New Brunswick impose mandatory vaccination. La Belle Province opts for a voluntary approach focused on awareness.

According to the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, nearly 99% of parents vaccinate their children. Despite this, vaccination rates are declining across Canada, ^Dr. Masse points out.