US Kindergartner Vaccine Exemptions Hit 4% Record as MMR Coverage Falls to 92.4%
Updated
Updated · WCVB Boston · Aug 18
US Kindergartner Vaccine Exemptions Hit 4% Record as MMR Coverage Falls to 92.4%
3 articles · Updated · WCVB Boston · Aug 18
Summary
CDC data for the 2025-26 school year showed nonmedical vaccine exemptions reached a record 4% nationwide, with 42 of 46 reporting states posting increases.
MMR coverage slipped 0.1 percentage point to 92.4%, leaving about 280,000 kindergartners unvaccinated against measles and keeping the rate below the 95% herd-immunity benchmark.
Twenty-three states recorded nonmedical exemption rates of 5% or higher, underscoring how broadly the decline in kindergarten vaccination has spread.
The figures arrived a week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to space out child vaccinations, and as US measles cases have already surpassed 2025 totals in the worst year since 1991.