CDC reports drop in kids’ vaccination rates, more exemptions

American kindergarteners’ vaccination rates for all tracked vaccines fell slightly during the 2025–26 school year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. At 1% overall, the decrease was small and varied by each type of vaccine, but some vaccination rates were below the recommended standards for herd immunity.

For example, 92.4% of kindergarten students received the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. But an estimated 280,000 children did not receive it. The report comes as U.S. measles outbreaks over the past two years—with children particularly affected—have put America at risk of losing its official measles-free status.

Exemptions from one or more vaccines also increased over the past school year in 41 states and the District of Columbia, rising to 4.2% from the previous rate of 3.6%. More than 20 states also reported that more than 5% of kindergarteners in their state had exemptions. The total number of exempt children was about 157,000 over the past school year.

President Donald Trump recently ordered the Health Department to reduce its list of recommended childhood vaccines from roughly 18 to 11, in line with many European countries. However, state laws dictate actual requirements. Trump also ordered the department to work on splitting the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine into three separate shots rather than administering them combined. The Health Department recommends that children receive all of the 11 core vaccines.

Dig deeper: Read a report from myself and Christina Grube breaking down Trump’s executive order.