The number of reported vaccine exemptions among U.S. kindergartners reached another record high during the 2023-2024 school year, surpassing last year's record.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention According to the (CDC), 3.3% of kindergartners were exempt from one or more vaccines during the past school year, an increase from the previous year, when 3% of kindergartners were exempt.
“During the 2023-2024 school year, U.S. kindergarten child vaccination rates decreased from the previous year for all reported vaccines, from 92.3% for diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) to 92.3% for measles, , mumps, and influenza by 92.7%,” the CDC release said.
Forty states and Washington, D.C., saw their exemption amounts increase, and 14 states reported exemption rates above 5 percent, the agency reported.
All states in the United States require students to be vaccinated against certain infectious diseases, but medical exemptions are also allowed. Although the majority of states allow religious exemptions, a minority allow exemptions based on non-religious personal beliefs. Some states, such as California, New York, and Maine, do not allow non-medical exemptions, religious or otherwise.
For health authorities, the ideal vaccination rate for MMR vaccination is 95%. MMR vaccination rates among children in the United States have declined since 2019. A series of measles outbreaks earlier this year renewed concerns that the United States could lose its status as a measles-free country.
Approximately 280,000 kindergartners in the United States attended school during the 2023-2024 school year without documentation of complete MMR vaccination.
