School vaccination rates inch down again to record low
U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates have declined again, with exemptions reaching a record high for the 2025-2026 school year
U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Monday.
The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4.2%, up from 3.6% the year before. That's an estimated 155,000 children nationally during the 2025-26 school year.
It's the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has reached a new record, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons. Exemptions increased in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
Experts point to turmoil caused by federal health officials.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a leading voice in the antivaccine movement before President Trump put him in charge of federal health agencies. In the last 18 months, Kennedy and other federal officials have repeatedly tried to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump called for revamped childhood vaccination recommendations based on the idea that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits — which medical organizations say is not supported by research.
"The root cause of this is primarily because there's so much chaos and confusion in vaccination recommendation systems in the last year or so," said Dr. James Campbell, of the American Academy of Pediatrics.