CDC: Record number of kindergartners had vaccine exemptions in 2023-24 school year

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday revealed that the 2023-2024 academic school year held the record for the most kindergartners declining at least one vaccination.

The CDC said a total of 3.3% of kindergartners nationwide, equaling 127,000 kindergartners, were granted exemptions on at least one vaccine, which beats the previous record of 3% in the 2022-2023 school year. 

“During the 2023-2024 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergartners in the U.S. decreased for all reported vaccines from the year before, ranging from 92.3% for diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccines (DTaP) to 92.7% for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines (MMR),” the agency said in a news release.

The centers noted that exemptions increased in 40 states for the past school year, and 14 of them had exemption rates of more than 5%. Coverage of the MMR vaccine, the polio vaccine,  and DTAP vaccines, also decreased in 30 states.

All U.S. states require certain vaccinations from communicable diseases, except for medical reasons. Most states also allow students to be exempted from the vaccines for religious reasons, and fewer states allow exemptions for nonreligious or medical reasons. 

New York, Maine, and California do not allow any vaccine exemptions except for medical reasons, according to The Hill.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.