US School Vaccination Rates Fall, Exemptions at Record High
U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates declined again during the 2025-2026 school year, while the share of children with vaccine exemptions rose to an all-time high of 4.2%, according to new CDC data posted Monday. The figures represent approximately 155,000 children nationally and mark the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has reached a record, according to AP News.
A Worsening Trend
The vast majority of exemptions are for nonmedical reasons—personal or religious beliefs—while medical exemptions have held steady at approximately 0.2%. Exemptions increased in 41 states and the District of Columbia, signaling that the trend is not confined to any particular region.
Only 92.4% of 2025-26 kindergarteners received their required measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shots, down slightly from 92.5% the previous year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination rate was 95%—the level that makes it unlikely that a single infection will spark a disease cluster or outbreak. Vaccination rates also fell for polio, the combination shot against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP), and the first dose of the vaccine against chickenpox, while the rate held steady for hepatitis B.
According to Ars Technica, only 10 states now have MMR vaccination rates at or above the 95% threshold: West Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, New York, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, and New Mexico. Meanwhile, 24 states have exemption rates at or above 5%—a level that makes achieving the 95% coverage target impossible—up from 14 states in the 2023-2024 school year.
The Measles Crisis
The declining vaccination numbers arrive as the U.S. experiences its worst year for measles since 1991. As of August 13, 2026, there were 2,566 confirmed measles cases across 47 jurisdictions, according to CDC data. Major outbreaks have occurred in South Carolina, Utah, Arizona, and Ohio.
Nearly all people diagnosed with measles this year—93%—were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. The numbers indicate that more than a quarter of a million children entering kindergarten are susceptible to measles, and about 280,000 kindergarteners attended school without documentation of completing the MMR vaccine series, according to NBC News.
The U.S. achieved measles elimination status in 2000, but the country is now at risk of losing that designation. The Pan American Health Organization is expected to make a decision on the matter in November 2026.
Federal Health Policy Under Scrutiny
Experts point to turmoil caused by federal health officials as a key driver of the trend. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a leading voice in the antivaccine movement before President Donald Trump put him in charge of federal health agencies. In the last 18 months, Kennedy and other federal officials have repeatedly tried to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance, according to AP News.
Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccination recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits. The order advocates separating the MMR vaccine into three different single-disease shots and administering all childhood immunizations at separate appointments whenever possible.
“The root cause of this is primarily because there’s so much chaos and confusion in vaccination recommendation systems in the last year or so,” said Dr. James Campbell, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who chairs the organization’s infectious diseases committee.
Dr. David Margolius, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, called the rise “disappointing, but not surprising,” adding that it’s “indicative of the lack of clear messaging at the national level about vaccines,” as NBC News reported.
A Shift in CDC Communication
In the past, the CDC released vaccination coverage data in its flagship publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, with officials speaking to the trends and stressing the importance of vaccinations. Since the Trump administration took office, the agency has posted the data online instead. This year, the agency issued only a three-sentence statement that noted a small decline in vaccination coverage among children entering kindergarten and said: “CDC continues to encourage parents to discuss vaccination options with their doctors.”
This marks a significant departure from previous practice, when CDC officials would provide detailed analysis and context alongside the data.
State-Level Variation
The national averages mask significant regional differences. In Idaho, 17.5% of kindergartners had an exemption to one or more vaccines in the last school year, while fewer than 0.5% did in Connecticut. These concentrations of unvaccinated children help explain why measles waves vary in intensity across the country.
Public health officials focus on vaccination rates for kindergartners because schools can be cauldrons for germs and launching pads for community outbreaks. All U.S. states and territories require that children attending childcare centers and schools be vaccinated against a number of diseases, including measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough and chickenpox. All states allow exemptions for children with medical conditions, and most also permit exemptions for religious or other nonmedical reasons.
“Back-to-school season is an important reminder that protecting our children’s health is both a shared responsibility and a shared goal,” North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai said in a statement. “Vaccines help keep our children and teens healthy and in the classroom.”
What to Watch For
The trend shows no signs of reversing. As AP News reported in July, 2026 has already surpassed the record-breaking measles tally for all of 2025, with more months still to come. The country is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status, a designation that has stood since 2000.
Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the University of Colorado and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, warned last year that “with a further dip in the vaccination coverage, we’re going to see even more measles in the coming months.”
As students return to classrooms across the country, the combination of declining vaccination rates, rising exemptions, and an ongoing measles crisis creates a precarious situation for public health officials. The Pan American Health Organization’s decision in November on whether the U.S. retains its measles elimination status will be a critical milestone—and a reflection of how far the nation’s childhood vaccination program has fallen from its pre-pandemic heights.
Dr. Mark Roberts, retired director of the Public Health Dynamics Lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, offered a stark analogy for parents considering skipping vaccinations: “Not vaccinating your kid is like saying, ‘I don’t want my car to have brakes.’ Because it’s other people that you can hit. It’s not just you in your car. It’s other people.”