Vaccine rate for kindergarteners drops in last school year

BOSTON - Fewer kindergarten children are getting their routine vaccines nationally and the number has also dropped here in Massachusetts.

Last school year, 2023-24, vaccination rates among kindergartners in the U.S. fell from the year before , just short of 93% for all reported vaccines including tetanus, pertussis, and measles. That's down from a 95% vaccination rate pre-pandemic, the level needed for herd immunity to prevent disease outbreaks and clusters.

While vaccination rates are declining, exemptions have risen to an all-time high of 3.3%. This disturbing trend is likely responsible for the measles outbreaks and rise in whooping cough cases and the uptick in other vaccine-preventable infections.

Only a handful of states do not allow religious or personal exemptions including Maine, New York, and Connecticut. Massachusetts is not one of them. Here, religious exemptions are still allowed even though no major religion opposes vaccination. And while our vaccination rates, overall, remain high, they are slowly falling due to certain schools and certain areas that have woefully low compliance.