More 3K-12 students in Wisconsin are going without routine vaccines to protect against measles, other diseases

The number of 3K-12 students behind on routine vaccines has gone up in the last year, with a growing share of students obtaining waivers from state-mandated vaccines that protect against such diseases as measles, according to new data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Nearly 100,000 students, or 10.8%, did not meet minimum immunization requirements for attending school or had no vaccination record on file in the 2023-24 school year, according to new data reported by public and private schools to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. That's an increase from the 10.1% who weren't up-to-date on vaccines in the prior school year.

More than half of those students had a waiver exempting them from having to get one or more vaccines. Others were behind schedule, in the process of getting vaccines, or had no vaccination record on file.

Not only do vaccine rates for Wisconsin school children continue to lag behind pre-pandemic levels, the new data show , but they have dropped over the last year.

"Every time the numbers drift a little bit further down, it does worry me," said Dr. James Conway, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the medical director of UW Health's immunization program. "That means there's that many more kids that are vulnerable."

Rate of Wisconsin students with vaccine waivers reaches a new high

It's part of a national trend in which a growing number school children are going without key vaccinations and obtaining exemptions in the years following the the COVID-19 pandemic, when misinformation about vaccines spread widely and hesitancy about the brand new COVID-19 vaccines may have prompted questions about vaccines more broadly.

"Vaccine hesitancy certainly existed pre-COVID but has definitely been heightened after the rollout of the COVID vaccine," said Lindsey Page, infectious disease program director at the Milwaukee Health Department.

Under state law, school children are required to get vaccines that protect against such diseases as diphtheria, whooping cough, polio and measles; unless they obtain a waiver for one or more vaccines. Every school is required to submit a yearly report with student immunization data to the local health department and state authorities.

The number of Wisconsin students with waivers has been climbing in recent years and reached 6.1% of students last school year , the highest percentage recorded by the state health department at least since the late 1990s. That represents over 55,000 students, according to the data .

The state reported 5.4% of students had waivers the prior school year, though that may have been an undercount. In prior years, some schools had left out of the waiver totals those students who had waived all vaccines and gotten none, said Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health Services. The agency is conducting more data quality checks to try to find and resolve issues as best it can, an email from Goodsitt said.

More: Wisconsin kindergartners are behind the rest of the country in getting vaccines for measles, other preventable diseases

Meanwhile, local health officials are urging parents to talk to their child's doctor if they have questions about routine immunizations and to get their child vaccinated ahead of the upcoming school year.

"Having these low vaccination levels in our community is a setup for an outbreak of these preventable diseases," said Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County's chief health policy advisor during a Tuesday press conference directed toward parents of school-age children.

"We need to get up our vaccination rates to keep our kids and our families healthy," he added.

It's not just a problem with school children, Conway said. He pointed out that influenza vaccine rates in the general public continue to lag behind pre-pandemic levels , as well. Even among people 65 and older, one of the groups most motivated to get the flu vaccine, the rates are down.

"This is really a larger, societal issue," Conway said.

He pointed to barriers to getting vaccines and to complacency as part of the reason people have fallen behind, on top of vaccine skepticism.

"This has really become sort of a global calls to arms that we need to remember the vaccines are important, and we need to prioritize them, and we do need to make them easy for people to get," he said.

A quarter of MPS students not up-to-date on vaccines, more than prior school year

School immunization rates can vary widely from district to district and from school to school.

Milwaukee Public Schools reported only three-quarters of students last school year had all required vaccines, less than the statewide average and fewer students than the prior year. Most of the remaining quarter of students were in the process of getting vaccines, were behind schedule or had no vaccination record, a signal that access may be a barrier, according to figures submitted by district schools to DHS.

The Milwaukee Health Department is working with the district to bring up its falling immunization rates, said Page, the infectious disease program director. One way it's trying to do that is through school-based vaccination clinics, where kids can get the shots during normal school hours, she said.

"Appointments for immunizations may not always be prioritized for some families, so that's why we're working with MPS and trying to make it as convenient as possible for families," she said.

Meanwhile, West Allis-West Milwaukee School District reported about one in 10 students were not up-to-date on all required vaccines. Wauwatosa School District reported about 7% did not have all required vaccines, and Elmbrook School District about 6%. Most of the Oak Creek-Franklin School District students missing required vaccines — about 8% of all students — had obtained waivers based on personal convictions.

In some school districts elsewhere in the state, fewer than half of the students are up-to-date on their vaccines.

When kids are left vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, Conway said, it can have cascading effects. When outbreaks occur, it's disruptive to schools that may have to send unvaccinated kids home or shut down temporarily. That can mean parents miss out on work while taking care of sick kids. And it's all an added burden on the health care system, he said.

"It's unnecessary expense and unnecessary lost time from school and work, and unnecessary risk for kids that otherwise should be out healthy and being kids," he said.

The Milwaukee Health Department has a back-to-school health fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 10 at Milwaukee Academy of Science, where health workers will be on hand to give vaccine shots to children. Also available will be health screenings for children and adults, and free kids backpacks and school supplies, while supplies last.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: More 3K-12 students in Wisconsin are going without routine vaccines to protect against measles, other diseases