US vaccination rates fall again as exemptions continue to rise, CDC data shows
Again, the CDC did not publish a full report and instead simply put the data online.
Again, the CDC did not publish a full report and instead simply put the data online.
The short version
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday released data on the vaccination rates of US kindergarteners in the 2025–2026 school year, revealing that rates have once again decreased from the previous school year.
- Vaccination rates have been slipping since the 2019–2020 school year, when the US had obtained rates of around 95 percent, the threshold needed to keep outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases from spreading in communities.
- The latest data shows the US is moving further away from that target.
What happened
Nationally, only 92.4 percent of kindergartners were vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the 2025–2026 school year, down from 92.5 percent last year. Coverage with the DTaP vaccine, which covers diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (whooping cough), similarly fell from 92.1 percent to 92.0 percent.
Why it matters
More than half of states saw decreases in coverage for MMR, DTaP, polio vaccine, and varicella/chickenpox vaccine.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.