U.S.
kindergarten
vaccination
rates
inched
down
again
last
year
and
the
share
of
children
with
exemptions
rose
to
an
all-time
high,
according
to
federal
data
posted
Monday.
The
fraction
of
kids
exempted
from
vaccine
requirements
rose
to
4.2%,
up
from
3.6%
the
year
before.
That’s
an
estimated
155,000
children
nationally
during
the
2025-2026
school
year.
It’s
the
fourth
consecutive
year
that
the
national
average
exemption
rate
has
reached
a
new
record,
and
the
vast
majority
are
parents
withholding
shots
for
nonmedical
reasons.
Exemptions
increased
in
41
states
and
the
District
of
Columbia.
Experts
point
to
turmoil
caused
by
federal
health
officials.
U.S.
Health
Secretary
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
was
a
leading
voice
in
the
antivaccine
movement
before
President
Donald
Trump
put
him
in
charge
of
federal
health
agencies.
In
the
last
18
months,
Kennedy
and
other
federal
officials
have
repeatedly
tried
to
revise
and
reduce
childhood
vaccination
guidance.
Earlier
this
month,
Trump
called
for
revamped
childhood
vaccination
recommendations
that
promote
his
discredited
theory
that
childhood
shots
should
be
spaced
out
into
separate
medical
visits.
“The
root
cause
of
this
is
primarily
because
there’s
so
much
chaos
and
confusion
in
vaccination
recommendation
systems
in
the
last
year
or
so,”
said
James
Campbell,
MD,
of
the
American
Academy
of
Pediatrics
(AAP).
Vaccination
Rates
Fell
for
Many
Diseases
The
CDC
reported
that
92.4%
of
2025-26
kindergarteners
got
their
required
measles-mumps-rubella
shots,
down
slightly
from
the
previous
year.
Before
the
COVID-19
pandemic,
the
vaccination
rate
was
95%
—
the
level
that
makes
it
unlikely
that
a
single
infection
will
spark
a
disease
cluster
or
outbreak.
Vaccination
rates
also
fell
for
polio;
for
the
combination
shot
against
diphtheria,
tetanus,
and
pertussis;
and
for
the
first
dose
of
the
vaccine
against
chickenpox.
The
rate
held
steady
for
protection
against
hepatitis
B.
But
that’s
a
vaccine
given
shortly
after
birth,
and
it
will
take
a
few
years
before
recent
federal
efforts
to
upend
infant
hepatitis
B
vaccine
recommendations
would
appear
in
the
vaccination
rates
of
kindergartners,
Campbell
said.
The
vaccination
numbers
were
posted
as
the
U.S.
experiences
its
worst
year
for
measles
since
1991.
The
numbers
indicate
that
more
than
a
quarter
of
a
million
children
entering
kindergarten
are
susceptible
to
measles,
said
Campbell,
a
University
of
Maryland
researcher
who
is
chair
of
the
AAP’s
infectious
diseases
committee.
Those
at-risk
kids
are
not
evenly
distributed
—
concentrations
of
unvaccinated
children
are
higher
in
some
places
than
others,
which
helps
explain
why
measles
waves
vary
in
intensity.
This
Is
When
Public
Health
Officials
Typically
Tout
Vaccines’
Benefits
The
CDC
data
is
coming
out
as
school
and
health
officials
across
the
country
are
encouraging
parents
to
get
their
children
vaccinated
as
the
school
year
starts.
“Back-to-school
season
is
an
important
reminder
that
protecting
our
children’s
health
is
both
a
shared
responsibility
and
a
shared
goal,”
North
Carolina
Health
and
Human
Services
Secretary
Dev
Sangvai,
MD,
said
in
a
statement.
“Vaccines
help
keep
our
children
and
teens
healthy
and
in
the
classroom.”
In
the
past,
the
CDC
has
released
the
vaccination
coverage
data
in
its
flagship
publication,
the
Morbidity
and
Mortality
Weekly
Report.
CDC
officials
usually
speak
to
the
trends
and
stress
the
importance
of
vaccinations.
But
since
the
Trump
administration
took
office
early
last
year,
the
agency
has
posted
the
data
online.
This
year,
the
agency
issued
a
three-sentence
statement
that
noted
a
small
decline
in
vaccination
coverage
among
children
entering
kindergarten
and
said:
“CDC
continues
to
encourage
parents
to
discuss
vaccination
options
with
their
doctors.”
Medical
Exemption
Rates
Are
Steady
Public
health
officials
focus
on
vaccination
rates
for
kindergartners
because
schools
can
be
cauldrons
for
germs
and
launching
pads
for
community
outbreaks.
For
years,
those
rates
were
high,
thanks
largely
to
school
attendance
mandates
that
required
key
vaccinations.
All
U.S.
states
and
territories
require
that
children
attending
childcare
centers
and
schools
be
vaccinated
against
a
number
of
diseases,
including
measles,
mumps,
polio,
tetanus,
whooping
cough,
and
chickenpox.
All
states
allow
exemptions
for
children
with
medical
conditions
that
prevent
them
from
receiving
certain
vaccines.
And
most
also
permit
exemptions
for
religious
or
other
nonmedical
reasons.
In
the
last
decade,
the
percentage
of
kindergartners
with
medical
exemptions
has
held
steady,
at
about
0.2%.
But
the
percentage
with
nonmedical
exemptions
has
risen.
According
to
the
CDC
data,
17.5%
of
kindergartners
had
an
exemption
to
one
or
more
vaccines
in
Idaho
in
the
last
school
year.
But
fewer
than
0.5%
did
in
Connecticut.
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