New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that more kindergarteners are starting school without being vaccinated because of increased exemption amounts.
The agency said that for all reported vaccines, vaccination rates among kindergarteners decreased during the 2023-2024 school year.
The exemption rate for one or more vaccines rose to 3.3%, up from 3.0% a year ago, according to the CDC.
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Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine immunization coverage is currently 92.7%.
Last year, about 127,000 children started kindergarten in the United States with one or more vaccination exemptions.
New data from the CDC shows that more kindergarteners are starting school without being vaccinated because of increased exemption amounts. (St. Petersburg)
Exemption increases were reported in 40 states and Washington, D.C.
In 14 states, the exemption rate exceeded 5%.
Vaccine exemption policy
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), students in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., are required by law to receive certain vaccines.
The official said all states allow medical exemptions for students who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
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Some states (30 states plus Washington, D.C.) also allow exemptions for religious reasons, and an additional 13 states also allow exemptions for religious and personal reasons.
According to NCSL, five states (California, West Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Maine) do not allow nonmedical exemptions.
“A worrying trend”
Dr. Mark Siegel, senior medical analyst for FOX News and clinical professor of medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center, called the increase in exemptions an “alarming trend.”
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“Increased politicization and fear of vaccines, which is a very important public health tool, are contributing factors,” he told Fox News Digital.
Doctors say that before the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination rates among children were 95%, a number that would result in “herd immunity.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, students in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., are required by law to receive certain vaccines. (Jeff Kowalski/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is especially important with a virus like measles, which is the most contagious virus on the planet,” Siegel said.
“If vaccination rates continue to decline, outbreaks of measles, polio, chickenpox and other dangerous viruses will increase.”
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As for whether the influx of immigrant students into the U.S. is playing a role in the increase in vaccine exemptions, Siegel said, “It could be part of that.”
“People (including immigrants) who enter school without being vaccinated are more likely to get the disease again,” he said.
Infectious disease experts say “vaccine hesitancy” exists around the world, but is “particularly problematic” in Europe and the United States. (St. Petersburg)
Dr. Edward Liu, director of infectious diseases at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey, said “vaccine hesitancy” exists around the world, but it’s “particularly problematic” in Europe. He said it was the United States.
“People (including immigrants) who enter school without being vaccinated are more likely to get the disease again.”
“Because school systems are given the option to opt out of vaccinations for students, schools are facing more problems with vaccine-preventable diseases such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, and influenza, and isolated outbreaks.” It increases the likelihood of that happening,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“The only way to address this is to educate parents and limit vaccine exemptions in schools, which could mean increased state mandates,” he advised.
“Otherwise, local schools will be under pressure to ease vaccination requirements.”
