The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, according to U.S. health officials.
Colorado school vaccination rates, notoriously low among states, have also been trending down.
“The bad news is that it’s gone down since the pandemic and still hasn’t rebounded,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist. “The good news is that the vast majority of parents are still vaccinating their kids according to the recommended schedule.”
More parents are questioning routine childhood vaccinations that they used to automatically accept, an effect of the political schism that emerged during the pandemic around COVID-19 vaccines, experts say.