Record number of kindergartners had vaccine exemptions last year: CDC

The number of vaccine exemptions reported among U.S. kindergarteners reached another record high during the 2023-2024 academic year, exceeding last year's record.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 3.3 percent of kindergarteners were exempted from one or more vaccines in the past school year, an increase over the prior year, in which 3 percent of kindergarteners were exempted.

"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 vaccine (DTaP) to 92.7% for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR)," the CDC's release sated.

The agency reported that exemptions increased in 40 states and D.C., with 14 states reporting exemption rates higher than 5 percent.

All U.S. states require students to receive vaccinations against certain communicable diseases, but medical exemptions are also granted. The majority of states allow for religious exemptions while fewer permit exemptions based on non-religious personal belief. Some states, such as California, New York and Maine, don't allow for any nonmedical exemptions, religious or otherwise.

For health authorities, the ideal vaccine coverage for MMR immunizations is 95 percent. The MMR vaccination rate among children in the U.S. has been falling since 2019. A spate of measles outbreaks earlier this year renewed concerns the U.S. could lose its status as a country where measles is considered eliminated.

Roughly 280,000 kindergarteners in the U.S. attended school without documentation that they had completed MMR vaccinations in the 2023-2024 school year.