US Kindergarten Vaccination Rates Fall As Proportion Of Children With Exemptions Rises To All-Time High, Data Show

The AP (10/2, Stobbe) reported, “U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates dipped last year and the proportion of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Wednesday.” The percentage “of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 3.3%, up from 3% the year before.” About “92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots, which is a little lower than the previous two years.” Prior to “the COVID-19 pandemic the vaccination rate was 95%, the coverage level that makes it unlikely that a single infection will spark a disease cluster or outbreak.” The changes might “seem slight but are significant, translating to about 80,000 kids not getting vaccinated, health officials say.” USA Today (10/3, Cuevas) reports vaccine “exemptions increased in 40 states and Washington, D.C.” The CDC data show “the percentage of children with exemptions in 14 states exceeded 5%.” ABC News (10/3, Kekatos) reports, “For the MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine, coverage fell from 93.1% during the 2022-23 school year to 92.7% during the 2023-24 school year while DTaP [diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis] vaccination coverage dropped from 92.7% to 92.3% over the same period.” Meanwhile, “coverage for the polio vaccine fell from 93.1% to 92.6% and the percentage of children who received two doses of the chickenpox vaccine declined from 92.8% to 92.3%.” Also reporting is The Hill (10/3, Choi).