NY — Vaccination rates among kindergartners in the United States fell again last year.
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Typically, between 94% and 95% of kindergartners are vaccinated against measles, tetanus and some other diseases. Vaccination rates fell below 94% in the 2020-2021 school year, during the first year of the covid-19 pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study Thursday that reveals that rates fell again, to about 93%, during the 2021-2022 school year.
The pandemic affected immunizations and other routine health care for children, and also hampered the ability of school administrators and nurses to keep track of which children were not up-to-date with their immunizations. CDC officials noted that a rise in mistrust of vaccines may have been another factor.
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“I think it’s a combination of all of those things,” said Dr. Georgina Peacock, director of the CDC’s division of immunization.
Health authorities focus on children in kindergarten, because that is when most of them enter the school systems. Public schools usually require immunizations as a condition of admission, although certain exceptions are allowed.
There was a slight increase in such exceptions during the most recent school year, but the CDC’s Shannon Stokley noted that they were not the main factor in the decline. Instead, more schools relaxed their admissions policies and gave families a grace period for vaccinations, she said.
The new figures suggest that up to 275,000 kindergarten-age children lack a full vaccination schedule.
The decline in vaccination rates opens the doors to outbreaks of diseases that were once thought to be behind us, experts say. They highlight a case of paralytic polio reported last year in New York, as well as recent outbreaks of measles in Minnesota and Ohio.
These outbreaks coincide with anecdotal and survey data suggesting that more and more patients are questioning the foundations of pediatric vaccines that have long been seen as a public health success story.
A survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation last month revealed lower parental support for school immunization requirements than a 2019 survey.
“Is incredible. There is a lot to do,” said Dr. Jason Newland, pediatric infectious disease at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and vice president of community health at the University of Washington.
Other doctors have told him that more and more parents are selective about the vaccines they give their children. The CDC data reflects this: The vaccination rate against chickenpox fell more sharply than that of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines.
