Alarming Rise in Vaccine Exemptions Threatens Public Health in the US

Vaccination coverage among US kindergartners has fallen short of the protective threshold of 95 percent for the third consecutive year, with exemptions reaching a record high of 3 percent, according to a study by the CDC. The rise in exemptions is occurring nationwide, with 40 states reporting increases. More than 90 percent of exemptions are nonmedical, meaning children are not receiving routine vaccinations for religious or personal reasons. This poses a risk of measles and other severe infections for around 250,000 kindergartners in the US. The authors of the study suggest enforcing school vaccination requirements and implementing strategies such as school-based vaccination clinics and reminder systems to improve vaccination rates.