Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a health care-related bill that extends for two years the protections against discrimination based on a person's mRNA vaccination status.
The bill (HB 1299) keeps the legal definition of mRNA — the main type of COVID-19 vaccine — and prohibits government agencies, certain businesses, and schools from discriminating against people based on their vaccination status.
The vaccine description includes COVID-19, "emergency use," or mRNA, which means any vaccine that uses laboratory-produced messenger ribonucleic acid to trigger the human body's immune system to generate an immune response.
The law extends measures that DeSantis and lawmakers took to prioritize individual choice during the pandemic through a series of executive orders and legislative actions from 2021 to 2023.
In a post on X, the Florida Department of Health said, "This legislation upholds personal freedom and reinforces Florida's commitment to protecting individual rights."
The new law also:
- Requires state medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTC) to report the theft, attempted theft or loss of cannabis to the state Department of Health, in addition to law enforcement.
- Mandates that employees, owners, officers, board members, and managers of MMTCs and certified medical marijuana testing laboratories must undergo a fingerprint-based, state and national criminal history record check.
- Specifies that physician assistants must be licensed to practice in a state or Washington, D.C., to be eligible for a temporary certificate to practice in areas of critical need. This excludes U.S. territories.
- Revises criteria for out-of-state health care workers who apply to work in Florida under the MOBILE Act if they have a malpractice issue reported in a national database. If so, there are options to still be licensed in Florida if the action isn't against state rules.
The final version of the bill passed the state House and Senate with unanimous votes during the most recent legislative session.
The law takes effect July 1.
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