Minnesota school vaccination rates have dropped since COVID

Minnesota health officials want parents to make sure their children have received all required vaccinations before school starts in a few weeks.

Why it matters: The state's immunization rates for school-aged kids have slipped slightly since the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving unvaccinated children even more exposed to preventable diseases.

What they're saying: Despite the recent drop, "Vaccinating is the norm in Minnesota," Jessica Munroe, a supervisor in the state's Department of Health, told Axios.

• "We really see the decline starting in 2020," she added, "which really tells us that the changes are due to the pandemic."

The big picture: Eroding trust in public health agencies and a wave of anti-vaccine disinformation have likely contributed to the dip.

Yes, but: CDC researchers say it's still hard to pin down precisely why vaccination rates have decreased. Parents may have fallen behind on their kids' doctor visits or struggled to access the necessary shots.

• It also may have "less to do with hesitancy," Munroe said, "and more to do with really needing to do a lot of types of catch-up work because of the disruptions of the pandemic."

Context: To attend any Minnesota K-12 school — public, private, online, or home-based — state law requires students to have multiple doses of at least five different vaccines . Exemptions are allowed for medical reasons or "personal beliefs."

• Additional vaccines are required starting in seventh grade and for high school seniors.

By the numbers: Minnesota's rate of kindergarteners who were either unvaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella — or hadn't received the full number of doses — doubled in the last five years to 7.6% in 2023-2024.

• Parents of 5.2% of children received personal belief exemptions last school year. That rate had remained below 3.5% until 2022-23 when it started inching upward.
• The Hepatitis B vaccination rate is slightly higher, but most other vaccines have numbers that mirror those for measles.

Threat level: Munroe said state health officials are concerned about outbreaks of measles — a preventable disease that spreads fast and requires a lengthy quarantine for exposed patients.

• Minnesota has seen 26 reported cases this year, including several clusters among unvaccinated children in the Twin Cities metro.

The bottom line: Munroe urged parents to call their primary care doctor if their child is missing vaccinations. ( Here's the vaccination schedule .)

• Parents struggling to find access to shots can check out the state's Help Me Connect website, Munroe added.