Childhood Vaccine Exemption Rates Hit A Record High, Cdc Data Shows

The percent of kids who didn't get their recommended puerility vaccines roseate again past schoolhouse year, continuing nan post-pandemic inclination of Americans opting retired of vaccinations.

During nan 2024-2025 schoolhouse year, 4.1% of kindergartners — astir 138,000 kids — had a vaccine exemption, surpassing nan erstwhile grounds precocious of 3.7% during nan anterior schoolhouse year.

Nearly each exemptions are listed arsenic nonmedical, meaning nan kids aren’t getting vaccines for belief aliases different individual reasons.

The data, reported Thursday by nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes arsenic 2025 has logged nan highest number of bales cases successful 33 years: 1,333 cases successful 39 states.

Dr. Richard Besser, president of nan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and erstwhile acting head of nan CDC, said he expects nan complaint of vaccination exemptions to proceed to emergence arsenic agelong arsenic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a long-time anti-vaccine activistic — is wellness and quality services secretary.

“While these numbers are bad, they don’t moreover statesman to bespeak nan effect that Secretary Kennedy will person connected early exemptions,” Besser said. “No 1 has done much to instill fearfulness and distrust of vaccines.”

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said successful an email, “That couldn’t beryllium further from nan truth.”

“Vaccination remains nan astir effective measurement to protect children from superior diseases for illustration bales and whooping cough, which tin lead to hospitalization and semipermanent wellness complications,” Nixon said, adding that a family’s determination to vaccinate is “a individual one.”

Approximately 286,000 kindergartners past school year had nary archiving that they’d ever had nan measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, nan CDC said.

Those children were toddlers erstwhile nan pandemic deed successful 2020. The MMR vaccine is fixed successful 2 doses opening astatine property 1.

Just 92.5% of kids had their MMR and polio shots past year, and 92.1% had been vaccinated against tetanus and whooping cough.

Both percentages are decreases from nan twelvemonth before.

“A driblet successful sum for illustration that tin make a immense quality for keeping a illness for illustration bales astatine bay,” said Josh Michaud, an subordinate head wrong nan Global Health Policy programme astatine KFF, a nonpartisan wellness argumentation organization. “Lower bales vaccination rates are a cardinal driver for outbreaks for illustration nan ones we’re seeing crossed galore states this year.”

Measles is 1 of nan astir contagious viruses connected Earth. Generally, 95% of nan organization must beryllium vaccinated against it to forestall outbreaks.

While states person different vaccination requirements for attending nationalist and astir backstage schools, they mostly see MMR, poliovirus and chickenpox vaccines, arsenic good arsenic DTaP, which covers diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (also called whooping cough).