Childhood vaccine exemption rate reaches record high: Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Friday revealing that the childhood vaccine exemption rate reached a record high for the 2022-2023 school year.

The CDC found that 3% of children entering kindergarten in the United States were granted a vaccine exemption by their states.

“The exemption rate increased 0.4 percentage points to 3.0%. Exemptions increased in 41 states, exceeding 5% in 10 states,” the CDC reported.

Dr. Amna Husain, a pediatrician in North Carolina and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told NBC News that a “rising distrust in the health care system” has likely contributed to the increase in immunization exemptions. Parents are now questioning previously routine shots for their children.

The CDC estimated that at least 115,000 students were exempt from at least one vaccine last school year.

Idaho saw the most significant percentage of exemptions, with 12.1% of kindergarten children entering the school year without at least one immunization. Alaska granted exemptions for 5.7% of kids, Arizona 7.4%, Hawaii 6.4%, Michigan 5.4%, Nevada 5.6%, North Dakota 5.1%, Oregon 8.2%, Utah 8.1%, and Wisconsin 7.2%.

States with the lowest exemption rates included California, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New York, and West Virginia.

Ranee Seither, a CDC epidemiologist and author of the report, told NBC News that the increase in exemptions is “quite a jump.” Seither explained that only two states had a rate of more than 5% three years ago.

Prior to the COVID-19 vaccine, national vaccination coverage for kindergarteners remained around 95%. Despite the increase in vaccine skepticism, coverage for the 2022-2023 school year only dropped to 93%. Health officials state that 95% of the population should be vaccinated to protect against viral outbreaks.

Depending on state laws, exemptions can be granted for medical reasons, religious beliefs, or other personal concerns. Generally, most states require children to receive vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis, poliovirus, and chicken pox.

Hawaii saw the most significant exemption rate increase compared to the previous year. Officials from the state’s health department blamed the jump on “misinformation” regarding vaccine safety, Fox News Digital reported.

“We have observed that there has been misinformation/disinformation impacting people’s decision to vaccinate or not via social media platforms,” officials said.

Dr. Sean O’Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist, explained that spikes in exemptions can sometimes “be very local” and “may not reflect a whole state.”

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