A report released on Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found an increase in the exemption rates for vaccines for children in over 40 states.
In the case of more than 3.8 million kindergarteners the rate of exemption to vaccines has risen to 3percent for the 2022-2023 school term according to the CDC which is the highest rate ever recorded.
Forty-nine states as well as Washington, D.C. released exemption data for the required vaccines of the state for kindergarteners in public schools in the 2022-2023 school years and 48 states and D.C. have released data for the state-required vaccines as well as exemption information for private school kindergarteners.
Children’s vaccine exemptions have are increasing in 41 states, with some states more than others.
Exemptions were increased in 41 states. In a few states including Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin Exemption rates exceeded five percent. Idaho was the most exempted state in the states that have reported data, reporting an exempt percentage of 12.1 percent.
Montana was the sole state in the country that did not submit a report on vaccinations for kindergarten in both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years. It was also excluded from the analysis of the CDC.
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. As per the CDC that a vaccine exemption of more than five percent increases the chance for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illness.
RSV shot shortages for infants: See the CDC’s latest guideline on who can receive RSV shots.
Are there exemptions from vaccinations in all states?
Every state allows exemptions to vaccines due to medical reasons. Certain states also permit exemptions from vaccinations due to religious or philosophical reasons and some require medical proof that a child can’t receive vaccination.
The CDC reports that smoking among high school students is declining, however it is it is increasing among middle school students
