The share of U.S. kindergartners with exemptions from one or more school vaccine requirements reached 4.2% during the 2025\u20132026 school year, according to new CDC data. That was up from 3.6% the previous year and represents approximately 155,000 children. Exemption rates increased in 41 states and Washington, D.C., while 24 states reported rates above 5%.<\/p>\n
Vaccination coverage also declined slightly for every vaccine reported by the CDC. Coverage for the two-dose measles, mumps and rubella vaccine fell to 92.4%. CDC estimates that about 280,000 kindergartners attended school without documentation that they had completed the MMR series during the 2025\u20132026 school year.<\/p>\n
The decline comes during a major resurgence of measles in the United States. As of September 10, 2026, the CDC had recorded 3,294 confirmed cases during 2026<\/strong>, including 38 newly reported outbreaks. About 95% of confirmed cases were associated with outbreaks. The figures remain preliminary and can change as additional cases are reported.<\/p>\n Measles is highly contagious, which is why vaccination coverage is particularly important. CDC says community immunity generally protects most people when coverage exceeds 95%, but national averages can hide local pockets with substantially lower vaccination levels. School vaccination requirements and the exemptions available also differ by state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The share of U.S. kindergartners with exemptions from one or more school vaccine requirements reached 4.2% during the 2025\u20132026 school year, according\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n