Complete vaccination coverage down in kindergartners for 2023–24 school year

During the 2023–2024 school year, fewer U.S. kindergartners had complete vaccinations than in prior years, according to a study published in the Oct. 17 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Ranee Seither, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used data reported by 49 states and the District of Columbia for the 2023–2024 school year to estimate national and state levels of complete vaccination with required doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP), poliovirus vaccine (polio), and varicella vaccine (VAR), as well as exemptions from vaccination.

The researchers found that compared with approximated national coverage levels across all reported vaccines for the 2019–2020 (95 percent) and 2022–2023 (93 percent) school years, coverage dropped for the 2023–2024 school year, ranging from 92.3 percent for DTaP to 92.7 percent for MMR. Compared with the 2022–2023 (3.0 percent) and 2021–2022 school years (2.6 percent), exemptions increased to 3.3 percent.

In 35, 32, 33, and 36 jurisdictions, coverage with MMR, DTaP, polio, and VAR decreased, respectively, compared with the 2022–2023 school year. In 41 jurisdictions, exemptions increased, with 14 jurisdictions reporting that more than 5 percent of kindergartners had an exemption from one or more vaccine.

“Efforts by health departments, schools, and providers are needed to ensure that students begin school fully vaccinated,” the authors write.

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