HEALTH

Vaccine exemption rates among kindergarteners has increased in 41 states, CDC report says

USA TODAY

A young child receives a Moderna Covid-19 6 months to 5 years vaccination at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, Massachusetts on June 21, 2022.

A report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found an increase in exemptions rates for childhood vaccines in more than 40 states.

For the more than 3.8 million children entering kindergarten, the vaccine exemption rate increased overall to 3% for the 2022-2023 school year, according to the CDC, the highest ever reported.

Forty-nine states and Washington, D.C. released exemption data for state-required vaccines among public school kindergarteners during the 2022-2023 school year, and 48 states and D.C. released data with all state-required vaccines and exemption data for private school kindergartners.

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Child vaccine exemptions increased in 41 states, some more than others

Exemptions increased in 41 states, and in some states – Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin – the exemption rate exceeded 5%. Idaho had the highest rate among states that reported data, with a reported exemption rate of 12.1%.

Montana is the only state that did not report kindergarten vaccination for both the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, and was excluded from the CDC's analysis.

Overall vaccine coverage remained near 93% for all reported vaccines during the 2022-2023 school year, which includes DTap (Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis), polio and measles, mumps and rubella. According to the CDC, vaccine exemptions over 5% increases the risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease.

The CDC has been tracking the change in percentage of kindergartners exempt from one or more vaccinations during the 2021–22 and 2022–23 school years.

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Are there vaccine exemptions in every state?

All states allow vaccine exemptions for medical reasons. Some states also allow exemptions to vaccines for religious or philosophical reasons, while others require medical evidence that a child cannot receive a vaccine.

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