The CDC released data showing US kindergartener vaccination rates continued declining in the 2025–2026 school year, moving further from the 95 percent threshold needed to prevent disease outbreaks. Nationally, only 92.4 percent of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, down from 92.5 percent last year, while DTaP coverage fell from 92.1 percent to 92.0 percent. More than half of states saw decreases across MMR, DTaP, polio, and varicella vaccines.

Only 10 states—including West Virginia, Connecticut, and California—reached or exceeded the 95 percent MMR threshold. Meanwhile, nonmedical exemptions rose sharply, with 4 percent of kindergartners exempt from school vaccine requirements in 2025–2026, up from 3.2 percent the previous year. Medical exemptions remained steady at 0.2 percent.

Vaccination rates have been slipping since the 2019–2020 school year when the US achieved around 95 percent coverage, raising concerns about community immunity and disease prevention.