US school vaccination rates inch down yet again and exemptions reach record high
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Monday. The fraction of…
U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates and exemption rates both declined in 2025-2026, according to federal data released on Monday. The percentage of children exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4.2%, the highest level ever recorded, up from 3.6% the previous year. This means an estimated 155,000 children across the nation were exempted from vaccines during the 2025-2026 school year.
This is the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has reached a new high. The majority of these exemptions are due to parents opting out for non-medical reasons.
The decline in vaccination rates was observed for several diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and the first dose of the chickenpox vaccine. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination rate for measles-mumps-rubella was 95%, which was considered sufficient to prevent outbreaks. However, the vaccination rates for these diseases fell as the rates of exemptions rose.
Experts believe that the chaos and confusion in vaccination recommendation systems, primarily caused by recent changes and disputes by federal health officials, are the main reasons for this decline. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was a prominent voice in the antivaccine movement before joining the federal health agencies, has repeatedly tried to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance in the last 18 months.
This has led to the confusion and chaos in the vaccination system, as stated by Dr. James Campbell of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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