{
  "id": 1566159,
  "title": "US school vaccination rates inch down yet again and exemptions reach record high",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/us-school-vaccination-rates-inch-down-yet-again-and-exemptions-reach-1566159",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-17T21:00:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-school-vaccination-inch-exemptions-high.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates continued to decline last year, with exemptions reaching a record high, according to federal data released on Monday. The proportion of children exempted from vaccine requirements increased to 4.2%, up from 3.6% the previous year, representing an estimated 155,000 children nationwide for the 2025-2026 school year. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has set a new record, with the majority of exemptions being non-medical. Exemptions were recorded in 41 states and the District of Columbia.\n\nExperts attribute the trend to the turmoil caused by federal health officials. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent figure in the antivaccine movement, served as U.S. Health Secretary under President Donald Trump and has repeatedly attempted to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance. Recently, Trump called for revamped childhood vaccination recommendations that promote his discredited theory of spacing out shots into separate medical visits.\n\nDr. James Campbell, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, emphasized that the primary cause of this issue is the significant chaos and confusion in vaccination recommendation systems over the past year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 92.4% of 2025-26 kindergarteners received their required measles-mumps-rubella shots, a slight decrease from the previous year. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination rate was 95%, the level necessary to prevent disease outbreaks. Vaccination rates also fell for polio, the combination shot against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, and for the first dose of the chickenpox vaccine.\n\nThe release of these vaccination numbers coincides with the U.S. experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 1991, indicating that more than a quarter of a million kindergarteners are at risk for measles. Concentrations of unvaccinated children are higher in some areas, contributing to varying intensities of measles outbreaks. As school and health officials encourage parents to vaccinate their children at the start of the school year, the CDC data was disseminated as a three-sentence online statement, urging parents to discuss vaccination options with their doctors. Public health officials stress the importance of vaccination rates for kindergartners due to the potential for schools to become hotspots for germs and disease spread.",
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Associated Press",
        "title": "US school vaccination rates inch down yet again and exemptions reach record high",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/us-school-vaccination-rates-inch-down-yet-again-and-exemptions-reach-1557963",
        "published": "2026-08-17T20:23:01.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}