Kindergarten vaccine exemptions rose to a new national high, pushing more schools below the safety levels needed to block outbreaks, federal data show.
Story Highlights
- Federal data show kindergarten exemptions reached 3.6% in 2024–2025, a record high.
- Exemptions increased in 36 states and Washington, D.C., with 17 states topping 5%.
- Most exemptions were for nonmedical reasons, continuing a post-pandemic rise.
- Lower vaccination and higher exemptions raise the risk of measles and other outbreaks.
Record Exemptions And Sliding Coverage In The Latest School Year
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracking reports that 3.6% of U.S. kindergarteners had an exemption from one or more required vaccines in the 2024–2025 school year, up from 3.3% the year before. CDC data indicate exemptions rose in 36 states and Washington, D.C., and at least 17 states recorded exemption levels above 5%. Independent summaries by health policy groups describe this as the highest national exemption rate on record, paired with lower routine coverage.
CDC’s annual Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report series has documented the pattern behind this climb. The share with any exemption increased from 2.6% in 2021–2022 to 3.0% in 2022–2023, then 3.3% in 2023–2024 before hitting 3.6% in 2024–2025. CDC researchers also reported that more than nine in ten exemptions were for nonmedical reasons, which means policy design and school procedures can strongly shape the outcome.
Why State Rules And School Procedures Matter
State laws set which vaccines are required to attend school, and how families can claim medical, religious, or personal belief exemptions. Research and agency reviews show that exemption levels vary with those rules and how schools enforce them, including paperwork steps, deadlines, and audits. CDC’s SchoolVaxView highlights that these administrative differences help explain why some states cluster above the five percent exemption mark while others remain lower, even with similar politics and demographics.
Public health groups warn that small changes at the margins can have a big effect on risk. When more families opt out, it lowers protection for everyone, including babies, cancer patients, and others who cannot get certain shots. Analysts have linked repeated year-over-year increases in exemptions with slower progress on routine vaccines for measles, polio, and chickenpox, which depend on very high coverage to stop chains of spread.
The Stakes: Outbreak Risk Rises As Exemptions Climb
CDC data and health policy briefings tie the rise in exemptions to more schools dipping under the levels needed to block measles, which spreads fast and needs about 95% coverage to hold the line. Newsrooms that reviewed the figures reported another drop in kindergarten vaccination last year alongside the exemption record, confirming a sustained post-pandemic slide rather than a one-off dip. These findings match CDC’s trend reports across several years of surveillance and multiple jurisdictions.
▫ Another rise in kindergarten vaccine exemptions in U.S.
▫Record high for the 2025-26 school year continues a trend
▫@bylenasun
▫https://t.co/t4BLPlPwXo@washingtonpost #frontpagestoday #USA 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4ENdNUelBt— 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 📰 (@ukpapers) August 18, 2026
Parents across the spectrum want safe schools and clear rules. Many also want a say in health choices and less red tape. The data show a tension here. States that make it very easy to claim nonmedical exemptions tend to see more exemptions. States that set stricter steps, clear forms, and follow-up checks tend to see fewer, while still allowing medical exemptions for the small group that needs them. Policymakers now face a tradeoff between access and community protection as outbreaks remain a real risk.
Sources:
washingtontimes.com, data.cdc.gov, apnews.com, cidrap.umn.edu, cdc.gov, kff.org, pharmacytimes.com, frontiersin.org
