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Since the COVID-19 pandemic started in late 2019, childhood vaccination rates have slowly but steadily declined in the United States. About 95 percent of kindergarteners received the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) in the 2019-20 school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By 2021-22, it dropped to 93 percent. While that may seem like a small difference, it means about 250,000 school-aged kids are not protected from potentially serious infections like measles.
Some of the difference can be explained by disruptions in life and medical care caused by the pandemic. But another significant factor is vaccine exemptions, sometimes claimed by caregivers who are hesitant about vaccines. Approximately 2.6 percent of kindergarteners had exemptions from state-required shots in the CDC study.
Staying up to date with your child’s immunizations is an important part of keeping kids—and their peers—safe from life-threatening infectious diseases. Here's the truth behind six of the most common immunization myths.
Sources: KFF.org. Headed Back To School in 2023: ... + 16
- KFF.org. Headed Back To School in 2023: A Look at Children’s Routine Vaccination Trends. July 31, 2023.
- Seither R, Calhoun K, Yusuf OB, et al. Vaccination Coverage with Selected Vaccines and Exemption Rates Among Children in Kindergarten — United States, 2021–22 School Year. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:26–32.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism and Vaccines. Page last updated December 1, 2021.
- DeStefano F, Shimabukuro TT. The MMR vaccine and autism. Annu Rev Virol. 2019;6(1):585-600.
- Hviid A, Hansen JV, Frisch M, et al. Measles, mumps, rubella vaccination and autism: A nationwide cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 2019;170(8):513-520.
- Callaway E. Brain scans spot early signs of autism in high-risk babies. Nature. 2017.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thimerosal and Vaccines. Page last updated August 25, 2020.
- World Health Organization. Immunization. December 5, 2019.
- Moro PL, Perez-Vilar S, Lewis P, et al. Safety surveillance of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines. Pediatrics. 2018;142(1):e20174171.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccines. Page last updated August 14, 2020.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multiple Vaccinations at Once. Page last updated August 14, 2020.
- Glanz JM, Newcomer SR, Daley MF, et al. Association between estimated cumulative vaccine antigen exposure through the first 23 months of life and non-vaccine-targeted infections from 24 through 47 months of age. JAMA. 2018;319(9):906-913.
- National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. We The People… Have The Right To Be Vaccine-Preventable Disease Free. July 4, 2019.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine-Preventable Adult Diseases. Page last updated March 30, 2022.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What Vaccines are Recommended for You. Page last updated May 19, 2023.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine and Preventable Diseases. RSV Vaccination for Older Adults 60 Years of Age and Over. Last reviewed August 30, 2023.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory Viruses: Updated COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations are Now Available. September 12, 2023.
